PROSECUTORS in Kano State have finished giving evidence in the trial of the 14-year old child bride known as Tasiu who killed her 35-year old husband through food poisoning in an attempt to escape from the unhappy marriage. Yesterday, the Kano State High Court was packed as the judge heard testimony during which the child bride admitted to killing her husband with rat poison and signed a police confession to that effect. Because she had been denied an education and could write, she had to thumbprint the document, while the prosecutor also had to translate the proceeding to her in Hausa. Tasiu, from a poor and conservative Muslim family, has been charged with murdering her husband, Umar Sani, days after their marriage in Kano State. State’s lawyers, who are seeking the death penalty, also called a co-wife, identified as Ramatu to the stand to testify yesterday. According to Ramatu said she got along well with Tasiu and that the two had prepared the food together on April 5, the day Sani died. She testified that because it was Tasiu’s turn to share Sanis bed, she was also entitled to serve his meal. She told the court that after putting the food in the dish, she did not see anybody put anything in it but later, her husband was helped back to the house by a neighbour, unable to walk and foaming at the mouth. After Sani and three other friends ate the meal of rice she served them, they died. This case has sparked outrage among human rights activists, who say Nigeria should be treating Tasiu as a victim, noting the possibility that she was raped by the man she married. However, others in the region, including relatives of the defendant and the deceased, have rejected the notion that she was forced into marriage, which took place at Sanis village of Ungwar Yansoro, located 100km from Kano. Witnesses for the prosecution have testified that 14 is a common age to marry and that Tasiu chose Sani from among many suitors. A motion by defence lawyers to have the case moved to a juvenile court was rejected, despite claims by human rights lawyers that she was too young to stand trial for murder in a high court. Further complicating the case is the role of sharia, which allows children to marry according to some interpretations. While sharia is technically in force in Kano, law enforcement officials have no guidelines concerning how it should be balanced with the secular criminal codes, creating a complex legal hybrid system. According to Human Rights Watch, Nigeria is not known to have executed a juvenile offender since 1997, so it is unclear what will happen if Tasiu is found guilty of murder. The trial has been adjourned until February 16, 2015.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 11:01:13 +0000
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