NIGERIAN ‘ADULTERESS’ FREED

Judge Alhaji Bawa Sahabi Tambuwal of the Second Upper Sharia court of Sokoto acquitted an 18-year-old woman accused of having sex outside marriage, in the second such case since the introduction of full Islamic law there.
The judge said there were discrepancies in the evidence against Hafsatu Abubakar, which had raised doubts about the case.
Hafsatu Abubakar, who is divorced, was accused by neighbours after she gave birth to a child several weeks ago. She and the baby have been held in prison since December.
The Judge accepted the submission of the defence counsel, Abubakar Imam, that his client had no case to answer. The lawyer had submitted that his client had withdrawn the earlier statement that she had an illicit sexual relationship with one Umaru Shehu who was acquitted by the court for want of evidence.
The lawyer, who quoted extensively from the Holy Koran and traditions of the prophets, said that a pregnancy could remain in the womb for seven years or even for life, while the shortest period is six months.
He therefore contended that the pregnancy could have belonged to the ex-husband, adding that his client could therefore not be liable for adultery.
When the acquittal was announced on Wednesday afternoon, there were cheers from about 500 supporters who attended the court session.
Speaking to reporters outside the court house Hafsatu expressed her deep gratitude to God, who, she said, had given her strength through the trying period.
Under a revised Sharia criminal code recently introduced in the mainly Muslim states of northern Nigeria, the punishment for adultery is either death by stoning or flogging, depending on whether or not the woman is married.
The death sentence is used for married women who have sex with a man other than their husband.