Kano: Court sentences woman to death for killing husband nine days after wedding

A Kano State High Court has sentenced a 19-year-old woman, Saudat Jibrin Farawa, to death by hanging after finding her guilty of murdering her husband, Salisu Idris, just nine days after their wedding.

Justice Maryam Ahmed Sabo delivered the judgement after holding that the prosecution proved the charge of culpable homicide beyond reasonable doubt.

According to the charge sheet, the incident occurred on April 9, 2025, at about 9:00 p.m. in Farawa Quarters, Kano metropolis.

The prosecution alleged that the convict served her husband a sobo drink before slitting his throat with a kitchen knife with the intention of killing him. The offence contravened Section 221(A) of the Penal Code Law.

Saudat was arraigned before the court on June 20, 2025, where she pleaded not guilty to the charge.

During the trial, the prosecution, led by Barrister Lamido Abba Soron Dinki, called two witnesses, including a police investigator, ASP Ezekiel, and the deceased’s father, Alhaji Idris Danlarai.

The prosecution also tendered the defendant’s confessional statement and the kitchen knife allegedly used in the killing as exhibits.

ASP Ezekiel told the court that the case was transferred from Mariri Police Division to the Criminal Investigation Department, where he recorded the defendant’s confessional statement after visiting the scene of the crime.

The deceased’s father testified that he rushed to his son’s residence after receiving information that something unusual had happened. He said he found the house locked from the inside and entered through the backyard, where he discovered his son lying in a pool of blood with a knife lodged in his neck.

He further told the court that while taking his son to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, the victim identified his wife as the person who stabbed him before dying at the hospital gate.

In her defence, Saudat denied killing her husband and rejected the confessional statement, claiming the signature on the document was not hers. She told the court that she was in the bathroom when unknown persons allegedly entered the house, killed her husband and escaped unnoticed.

Defence counsel, Barrister Abdulfatah Muhammad, argued that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, citing the absence of medical and post-mortem reports, the lack of eyewitnesses and what he described as hearsay evidence from the deceased’s father.

However, the prosecution maintained that the case was supported by compelling circumstantial evidence, including the deceased’s dying declaration, the defendant’s confessional statement and other surrounding facts.

In her judgment, Justice Sabo ruled that medical evidence was unnecessary because the cause of death was clear from the evidence before the court.

She held that the testimony of the deceased’s father and other evidence established that the fatal injury was inflicted while the deceased was alone with the defendant.

The judge said the chain of circumstantial evidence conclusively linked the defendant to the killing and left no reasonable doubt about her guilt.

“The court finds you guilty of killing your husband just nine days after your wedding. You are hereby sentenced to death by hanging, or by any other means prescribed by law. The sentence may be subject to the pleasure of the Governor,” Justice Sabo declared.

The judge also urged security agencies to strengthen criminal investigations by adopting more scientific methods, particularly in homicide cases, to support effective judicial proceedings.

Following the judgment, the convict reportedly told the prosecution as she was being led from the courtroom, “Court judgement is not God’s judgment.”

Speaking to journalists after the ruling, the prosecution counsel commended the court for what he described as a firm and just judgment, noting that the convict had shown no remorse throughout the trial.

Defence counsel, however, said he would study the judgment and consider filing an appeal before the Court of Appeal.