Prosecutors in Nigeria have dropped a murder charges against a 15 year old girl who was accused of poisoning a 35 year old man she had been married to.
The girl Wasila Tasi’u was faced with a case of caulpable homicide. She was 14 years when she was married off to Umar Sani.
Prosecutor Lamido Abba Soron-Dinki asked the High Court in Gezawa, Kano state, to “terminate the case of culpable homicide against Wasila Tasi’u. With a heavy heart, I apply that the accused be discharged,” he added.
However Judge Mohammed Yahaya who was preciding over the case, 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.
When the case was reported in 2014, it threw a spotlight on the issue of child brides and forced marriages in Nigeria.
The girl admitted to killing her husband by concealing rat poison in his food, the police in Kano said at the time.
Three other people also died and 10 were taken to hospital apparently after eating the same food.
The girl’s father had forced her to marry the 35-year-old man, police said.
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.
The case highlighted starkly contrasting attitudes towards underage marriage, especially in the north, where the practice is widespread.
