Murder charges against a
15-year-old Wasila Tasi'u who was accused of using rat poison to kill her
35-year-old husband, Umar Sani, has been dropped by prosecutors in Nigeria. She was
14 when she married Umar Sani.Hence the Presiding judge, Mohammed Yahaya said: "With a heavy heart, I apply that the accused be discharged.".
Judge
Mohammed Yahaya told the court he required either a written or oral
presentation from the office of Kano's attorney general before formally
dropping the charges and agreeing to Tasi'u's release.
He ordered that presentation to be made on June 9.
Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi II, who is Nigeria's
second most powerful Islamic cleric, had offered to "shelter" Tasi'u
following her release.
The
murder charge dates back to April 5, 2014, when Sani hosted a small
wedding celebration at his home in the small Kano village of Unguwar
Yansoro.
Prosecutors claimed
that Tasi'u prepared the food and laced it with rat poison before
serving it to her guests. Four people, including Sani, died within hours
of eating the meal.
Judicial sources said the Kano state government intended to offer financial compensation to the victims' families.
Locals
in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, Tasi'u's home region, had rejected
claims that she was a victim forced to marry a man more than twice her
age, noting that 14 was a standard marrying age in the deeply
conservative area.
Sani's
family and even Tasi'u's parents said she chose her husband from a range
of suitors and told close friends that she wanted to marry.
Some
in Unguwar Yansoro 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 maintained that Tasi'u was a minor in need of
rehabilitation and could not be charged as an adult with murder.
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