Si uchawi tu! Scientific reason why people get stuck together during Lungula

Aside from the appeal of watching the couple struggle to separate themselves, the spectators congregated there because of the witchcraft factor after the woman’s husband consulted a witchdoctor for a ‘powerful charm’ to catch the lovers.

"I have been married to this woman for five years. I have been suspecting that she is cheating on me. On Saturday, I went to 'Mama Kasimbila' who gave me medicine that would make them get stuck. It has worked so well. I have caught them red-handed." The cuckolded husband identified as Mike told the Standard.

However despite the strangeness of this incident, it’s not the first and neither will it be the last because lovers have been caught worldwide in action. From Kenya to Italy where a couple got stuck during a session in the Mediterranean Sea Penis Captivus is as old as time itself.

Something demonstrated by a story written by Geoffrey de La Tour-Landry a nobleman from the 13 century who tells a tale in his Book of the Knight about how a Casanova and his lass found themselves crotch deep in trouble after having sex in church.

The hedonist named Pers Lenard "delt fleshely with a woman" at a church’s altar and God "tyed hem faste togedre dat night" and the following morning the couple was still stuck "fast like a dogge and biche togedre"

Luckily, a prayer for the sinners led to the separation of the two, but since this was the 13 century and shaming was in, they didn’t get off that easy and were ordered to go to church for three Sundays and flog themselves naked in front of the congregation.

So what causes the vagina to clamp down on the penis?

Is it science or is it a supernatural power (whether good or evil) that causes this condition commonly seen in dogs happen to humans? Well, depending on your beliefs it could be either.

Dr. John Dean a clinical director of Gender and Sexual Medicine for the Devon Partnership in England, recently explained to BBC Health Check on what causes the condition called Penis Captivatus.

“When the penis is within the vagina, it becomes increasingly engorged. The muscles of the woman’s pelvic floor contract rhythmically at orgasm… While those muscles contract, the penis becomes stuck and further engorged within [the vagina] until the muscles relax." And when the vagina muscles relax “Blood can flow out of the penis again, the penis starts to go down after orgasm, and the man can withdraw.”

Scientifically, the condition should last for a few seconds and not 3 freaking hours or a whole night and maybe that is where the witchcraft theory comes in as getting stuck for 3-8 hours beats logic.

So what do you do when you get stuck due to either witchcraft of scientific reasons? Dr. Yvonne Fulbright a sexuality educator, sexologist, relationship and author of Sultry Sex Talk to Seduce Any Lover and The Better Sex Guide to Extraordinary Lovemaking has some advice.

"Should you ever find this actually happening, then both you and your lover need to relax and take the focus off of intercourse and anything sexy. This allows blood to leave the penis, so that he can withdraw more easily. And her pelvic floor muscles will also relax, as not to clench the shaft."

Then what happens when you can’t relax and free the penis? Well, you have to rush to the emergency room for medical attention.