Drama in Court as Child Bride Murder Suspect Refuses To Talk

There was a mild drama at the Gezawa High Court Kano on Thursday when the girl bride, Wasila Tasi, accused of killing her husband and three others last April, failed to utter a word in court during her trial.

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

This compelled the presiding judge, Justice Muhammad Yahaya, to enter a plea of ‘not guilty’ on her behalf shortly after the charge was read and explained to her in the local dialect.

Wasila, who was looking perturbed in the dock, was repeatedly asked whether she understood the content of what was read to 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.

The decision of the court to enter a plea of ‘not guilty’ on her behalf revived the case as the prosecution counsel, Lamido Abba Soron Dinki, offered to line up five witnesses to prove the merit of the case.

He further sought the court to adjourn the case to enable him intimate his witnesses to testify.

The defence counsel, Hussaina  Aliyu Ibrahim, who was  granted 30 minutes to confer with her client on the weight of the allegations levelled against her, concurred with the adjournment, adding that the time frame would allow the  defence team to regulate and regularise their response on the matter before the court.

The presiding judge therefore adjourned the matter to November 26 and 27 to continue hearing and also ordered that the 14-year-old suspect be returned to remand home.

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