Tragic hunger… As housewife allegedly kills husband with pestle over food

DEM belly full but we hungry//A hungry mob is an angry mob

A rain a-fall but the dirt, It tough//A pot a-cook but the food no ‘nough…

Cost of  livin’ gets so high // the rich and poor they start to cry

And now the weak must get strong, // they say Oh, what a tribulation…

The above lyrics by late Jamaican Reggae maestro, Bob Marley was composed decades back, but the scenario played out in Lafani village, near Gada Kabanje community in Mahegu Local Government Area of Niger State recently when a matrimonial squabble turned awry.

Though there is economic recession, a recently married bride is not likely to understand any reason why she should be kept hungry day after day. This was the unbearable situation that Hasiya Isyaku, a 14-year-old bride found herself in, leading her to react in a manner that ended tragically. Hasiya and her husband were said to be cousins and both had got married five months back.

At about 8 pm on the fateful day, the aggrieved housewife was in an angry mood waiting for the arrival of her husband. One thing was on her mind, she had had enough of being a hungry wife and was going to teach him a lesson on how to take care of his wife and keep her well-fed as other husbands do. Unfortunately she did not know how the lesson was going to end.

Apparently, Hasiya had been complaining for quite some time over the failure of her husband to provide enough food for the home, thereby leaving her hungry most of the time.

Investigation revealed that as soon as Hasiya’s husband returned, she confronted him, accusing him of starving her and an altercation ensued. The husband allegedly slapped her and out of annoyance she picked up a pestle in a corner of the house and allegedly hit him on the head with it.

A police source at the Homicide Section of the Niger State Criminal and Intelligence Department (SCIID) at the Headquarters of the state police command, Minna, told Sunday Tribune that immediately after being hit by the pestle, Hasiya’s husband collapsed and died.

On realising the gravity of her offence, the suspect was said to have run to her mother’s house in the area to seek refuge. Sunday Tribune learnt further that she was later arrested by policemen from Mashegu Divisional Police headquarters. The case, Sunday Tribune was informed has been transferred to the SCIID, Minna, for further investigation.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Niger State command, DSP Bala Elkana confirmed the incident, adding that Hasiya had since been arraigned in court for culpable homicide and remanded in prison custody.