Court Drama: 14 year old Killer bride refused to utter a single word

There was a mild drama at Gezawa High Court, Kano, yesterday as a girl-bride, Wasila Tasi, suspected to have killed her husband

14-year-old aw Wasila Tasi'u and three others in April, failed to utter a word in court during her trial.

The high profile culpable homicide case that attracted the attention of the human rights community was nearly stalled by refusal of the 14-year-old suspect to speak.

Consequently, the presiding judge, Justice Muhammad Yahaya was compelled to enter a plea of 'not guilty' on her behalf shortly after the charged sheet was read and explained to her in the local dialect.

Wasila, looking perturbed at the dock, was repeatedly asked whether she understood the content of what was read before her, but each time she failed to utter a word as the court registrar ran through the four-count charge of culpable homicide punishable by death under Section 221 A of the Penal Code.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201410310292.html

A child bride has 'admitted' murdering her 35-year-old husband with rat poison, Nigerian police say. But, according to officers, 14-year-old Wasila Tasi'u had to sign the confession with her thumbprint because she couldn't read it.

If she is found guilty, she could become the first child to be executed in Nigeria for 18 years, but human rights campaigners said she should be seen as a victim of abuse. Her husband, farmer Umar Sani, was found dead just days after marrying her in April.

The teenager is from an impoverished and deeply conservative Muslim family who live in northern Nigeria, where child marriage and polygamy are widespread. The case has been met with mixed reactions in Kano, her hometown, where Sharia law is in place alongside government laws.

Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/lifestyle/article/2000145781/child-bride-aged-14-faces-execution-for-killing-35-year-old-husband-with-rat-poison