A Kano State High Court on Friday discharged and acquitted a housewife, Fatima Dahiru, who was charged with the murder of her co-wife, Wasila Yunusa.
The defendant, who lives at Farawa Quarters in Kumbotso Local Government Area, Kano State, was standing trial on a one-count charge of culpable homicide.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Zuwaira Yusuf held that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge said the evidence presented by the prosecution was riddled with contradictions, particularly regarding the claim that Fatima killed Wasila.
She said “none of the prosecution witnesses were eyewitnesses to the murder, and no credible evidence was presented to show how the defendant allegedly killed the deceased.
“The prosecution failed woefully to establish the offence.
“The defendant, Fatima Dahiru, is hereby found not guilty of the one-count charge of culpable homicide preferred against her.
“She is hereby discharged and acquitted.”
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Lamido Abba Sorondinki, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on Feb. 6, 2019, at Farawa Quarters, Kano.
He alleged that at about 3.30 p.m. on the same date, the defendant hit the deceased, Wasila, on the head with a sharp object, an act that led to her death.
The prosecution called seven witnesses, including the deceased’s husband, Isyaku Muhammad, who testified as the fifth prosecution witness.
Sorondinki said the offence contravened Section 221 of the Penal Code.
The defendant, however, denied committing the offence.
The defence counsel, Mrs. Habiba Abdullahi-Umar, called her client to testify in her defence.
