A 25-year-old married man, Gawata Lababa Turun, accused...

A 25-year-old married man, Gawata Lababa Turun, accused of impregnating his sister-in-law Nasifatu Umaru, 16, escaped being sentenced to death by stoning because of the failure by the prosecution to produce four witnesses against him.Nasifatu was however sentenced to 100 strokes by a Bauchi sharia court for committing fornication, resulting in an unwanted pregnancy. Nasifatu will receive the punishment after she is delivered of her baby, Malam Sani Mohammed, the presiding sharia judge, noted. Turun was dragged before a Bauchi sharia court in May by Nasifaru's father, Umaru Ibrahim, who accused Turun of impregnating his 16-year-old daughter. Turun, who appeared in court with his counsel, denied the charges, saying that he knew nothing about what he was being accused of. Although Nasifatu's father, Ibrahim, had produced two witnesses, who testified against the accused person, Turun's lawyer, Abdulkadir Suleiman, after cross-examinating the complainant, told the court that the two witnesses were not enough in sharia. Suleiman said under Islamic sharia, four witnesses rather than two, must be produced with practical evidence before a case of adultery could be ascertained against an accused. He said since the complainant had failed to produce four witnesses against his client, and with her pregnancy already showing, the girl, who is not yet married, had committed fornication. The presiding judge, Malam Sani Mohammed, in his ruling, said Nasifatu had confessed to the court that she was pregnant and that she was not married, hence she was guilty of adultery.