Kano State government may seek the death penalty for Kano child-bride

Looks like the Kano State government is really seeking the death penalty for 14-year-old child bride Wasila Tasi'u, who allegedly killed her 35 year old husband, Umar Sani and three of his friends with rat poison in the village of Unguwar Yansoro in Kano, 17 days after she was forced to marry him in April 2014.

The case was heard in court yesterday Oct. 30th and AFP's Aminu Abubakar writes that prosecutors at the High Court in Gezawa, have filed an amended complaint that charged Tasi'u with one count of murder over the killing. Lead prosecutor Lamido Abba Soron-Dinki said that if convicted, the charge is "punishable with death" and indicated the state would seek the maximum penalty.

Above is Sani Garba, holding a picture of his 14-year-old daughter-in-law, Wasila Tasi'u

 From AFP

Sani Garba, 55, stands in the abandonned bedroom of his 14-year-old daughter-in-law Wasila Tasi'u

Tasi'u entered the court wearing a cream-coloured hijab and was escorted by two policemen.

Her parents, who have condemned their daughter's alleged act, were in the public gallery -- the first time the three were in the same room since Tasi'u's arrest in April, her legal representatives said.

The English-language charge sheet was translated into Hausa for the accused by the court clerk.

Tasi'u refused to answer when asked if she understood the charges.

The case was adjourned for 30 minutes so the charges could be better explained to the defendant, but when the alleged offences were read again Tasi'u stayed silent, turned her head to the wall and broke down in tears.

"The court records (that) she pleads not guilty," Judge Mohammed Yahaya said, apparently regarding her silence as equal to a denial of the charges and adjourned the case until November 26

Photo credit: AFP

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