A Kenyan man has been accused of cutting off his wife’s hands and mutilating her for not giving him children — even though doctors told him he was the one who was infertile.

Jackline Mwende’s husband is accused of attacking her in their home in Machakos, Kenya with a machete in late July, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday. According to Mwende, 27, her husband, Stephen Ngila, slashed her face, leaving her disfigured, and cut off both of her hands. A neighbor told local media that area residents heard screaming and called the police. She said that upon entering the house, she saw rooms spattered with blood and a severed hand on the floor.

Mwende told The LA Times that the marriage had started out happy, but eventually turned sour over the couple’s fertility issues. She said that after a doctor told them that Ngila was infertile in 2014, her husband started drinking and beating her. Her parents pleaded with her to leave, but her church leaders advised her to stay in the marriage.

“In most cases, every time there was a problem, I would run to our pastor,” she said. “The pastor would always tell me, ‘Jackie, please persevere. That man will come to change one day,’” she said. “I always wanted to protect my marriage so I decided to stay with him.”

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