A court in Kano yesterday rejected a motion to have murder
charges against the child bride accused of killing her husband
and three of his friends dismissed, saying there was enough
evidence for the case to proceed.
Wasila Tasi'u was 14 when she married Umar Sani, 35, and
killed him and three others with rat poison. She could face the
death penalty if convicted of using rat poison to kill him.
"I am of the opinion that there is a case against the
accused," High Court Judge Mohammed Yahaya said.
"As such, I overrule the submission of no-case from
the defence counsel."
Tasi'u's lawyers had argued that the state failed to establish
her intent to kill Sani and questioned the reliability of a key
prosecution witness.
The witness, a seven-year-old girl named Hamziyya who was
identified as the sister of Sani's other wife, testified that
Tasi'u gave her money to buy the poison on April 5 last year,
the day Sani died.
The defence said that relying on testimony from a minor
contravened Nigeria's Evidence Act and that the state's case
should therefore be thrown out.
The families of both the deceased and the accused have
rejected claims that she was forced to marry a man more
than twice her age, noting that 14 was an appropriate age to
marry and that Tasi'u chose Sani from a range of suitors.
Some locals have called for Tasi'u to face stiff punishment to
discourage other girls from taking similar action if they
become unhappy in their marriage.
But rights activists have demanded that Tasi'u be
rehabilitated as a victim of a forced marriage, which likely
included incidents of rape.
Tasi'u has remained largely stoic through her appearances in
court so far, crying when charges were first read against her,
but otherwise sitting silently, often with her head bowed.
On Tuesday she stood quietly in the dock, with her head fully
covered in a sky-blue hijab.
Source: AFP
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