“If you beat your wife, you’re not a hero woman carries no respect and is no sign of strength”– Pete

According to a report by Ghanaweb on Friday, October 9, 2026, Veteran Nollywood actor Pete Edochie has said no man should consider himself strong or heroic for beating his wife, insisting that violence has no place in a marriage.

Speaking in an interview with Joy Prime TV, the actor, who has been married for 57 years, said couples should settle disagreements through understanding and open conversation rather than physical force. In his view, nothing a couple goes through justifies a man raising his hand against his wife.

“If you beat your wife, you’re not a hero,” he said, adding that striking a woman carries no respect and is no sign of strength.

Drawing on his own marriage, Edochie said that in more than five decades, no one has ever had to step into his home to stop him from abusing his wife.

He acknowledged that misunderstandings are bound to arise between couples. When a wife realises she has upset her husband, he said, she can admit her fault and apologise, and the two can work through the matter before it escalates. For him, a man’s ability to keep his temper in check matters more than any attempt to assert authority by force.

The actor also turned to what he sees as a habit among some Africans of copying Western lifestyles, especially where marriage is concerned. He argued that Africans should value their own traditions and not assume that everything done in Western countries deserves to be adopted. He pointed to the length of many African marriages as proof that couples can stay together through difficult times, and contrasted them with the relationships of some Western public figures.

His comments come amid renewed public conversation about domestic violence, following the circulation of leaked videos that allegedly show actress Nana Akua Addo being abused.

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