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| Father in-law holding the picture of the child bride. |
dismissed, saying there was enough evidence for the case to proceed.
Wasila Tasi'u
was 14 when she married Umar Sani, 35, in Nigeria's deeply conservative,
mainly Muslim north last year, and 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 murder trial
has highlighted the range of attitudes towards child marriage in
Nigeria, especially in the impoverished north.
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. Laws regarding both sexual and marital consent are complex in northern Nigeria, given the coexistence of both secular and Islamic law, creating contradictions in the justice system.
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.
Sani
died after eating food that Tasi'u allegedly prepared for a meal to
celebrate their marriage. Three others who reportedly ate the food also
died, but prosecutors have combined the three deaths into a single
murder charge.
The state has
concluded its case and following Tuesday's ruling the defence was
instructed to move forward with its own evidence when the trial resumes
on April 29.
Source:AFP
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