Prisoner of love: Pathetic story of Hassana locked up for loving by her brother

MUHAMMAD SABIU reports the story of a woman locked up for two years by her brother for refusing to stop loving her husband, long after the marriage had hit the rocks.

RIGASA community of lgabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State seems to be the hotspot of unusual events in the past few weeks. First, it came to limelight when an illegal lslamic centre where over 300 chained inmates were discovered right in the midst of the community. Some of the rescued inmates, who were children, also claimed to have been sexually abused and beaten by their superiors.

Not long after, another rehabilitation centre operated by one Lawal Muduru alias ‘Malam Nigga’ was also raided and 147 inmates were rescued. Like the other centre, some of the female inmates also allegations of sexual abuse against their male instructors.

Hardly had the dust of the two discoveries settled when news broke of a 29-year-old Hassana Salihu, a mother of five. The woman, it was alleged, was locked up in a room for two years by her own brother, Lawal Salihu, in dehumanising conditions.

Findings by Arewa Live gathered that she was eating, urinating, defecating in the same room, a sandy bare-floor confinement, until last week Monday when she regained her freedom.

It was also revealed that she ate only once in a day when her brother’s wives came to feed her with leftovers. But the most traumatic experience was that for the two years, she was in a room without light.

Within the period, Arewa Live was told that she was allowed to bathe only three times wearing no clothes except an old tattered piece of wrapper.

A resident of the area who pleaded for anonymity said that though neighbours were aware of her condition, they were not willing to speak out. According to the resident, the excuse was that they didn’t know the reason she was put in that state by her own brother.

“Of course, we know she was under lock and key, but we could not talk because we didn’t know why she was kept in that horrible situation,” he explained.

Another neighbour, who simply gave his name as Malam Sani, disclosed that “we were disturbed by her case but we felt  it was a family issue. We were afraid to reveal our findings to the authorities. We are happy for her now since she has regained her freedom.”

Arewa Live gathered from the founder of the Kaduna–based Arida Relief  Foundation,  Hajiya Rabi Salisu, that the woman got married to her lover about 15 years ago at the age of 15 and that both started having issues within the marriage soon after.

“We were told that she was 15 years old when her parents decided to give her out in marriage to her first husband. Their marriage was blessed with five children before a crisis started between her and her husband,” Hajiya Salisu said.

Though Arewa Live further gathered that there was no real reason behind their quarrel, however, a source within the community alleged that Hassana was suffering from emotional issue which made her husband to send her packing.

However, a family member who pleaded anonymity explained that it was not true that she had emotional problem. According to him, her predicament started when her husband divorced her. He alleged that “because she loved him dearly, the pains of losing him and her kids affected her emotionally.”

A source told Arewa Live that “she would leave home for months and we would search everywhere for her. At the end, we decided to give her to another man in marriage.”

However, Hassana was said to have kicked against the move by her family members, insisting she wanted to reunite with her first husband because of her children who were still with him.

“When her second husband discovered that her mind was not in the marriage, he decided to let her go despite the insistence of her people for her to remain with him. But  since she was not ready to stay in her second marriage, she had to be brought back home,” the source revealed.

However, when Hassana returned home, it was learnt she was always going to the house of her first husband, supposedly to see her children. Her family members got angry with her, leading her brother to lock her up.

He was said to have instructed his wives after locking her up that on no account should she be allowed go out of the room.

However, luck came her way when a lady was sent to fetch water in a nearby well. As she was approaching the well, she was asked to take an alternative route instead of the one she felt was nearer.

She asked why and she was told that a lady had been inside the building for the past two years and the owner of the house didn’t like people coming around where she was locked up.

So, the lady, out of curiosity, was able to locate the exact room where Hassana was locked up and saw the conditions under which she was living. The young lady was said to have left. Unknown to neighbours she had decided to speak out about Hassana’s case to a Non-Governmental Organisation which later lodged a complaint at Rigasa police station.

It was gathered the police subsequently visited the house, rescued the woman and arrested all members of the household. Hassana’s brother was also arrested and he’s currently helping the police in their investigation.

According to Hajiya Rabi Salisu, “We have done our part. We are governed by laws. It is now left for the police to do the needful by investigating Hassana’s  brother and other members of the family.

‘To us, this is a case of abduction, infringement on one’s rights and abuse. So, anyone found wanting should be prosecuted according to our laws.”