A Kano State High Court yesterday discharged and acquitted a housewife, Fatima Dahiru, who had been standing trial for the alleged murder of her co-wife, Wasila Yunusa.
Dahiru, a resident of Farawa Quarters in Kumbotso local government area of Kano state, was arraigned on a one-count charge of culpable homicide, contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code.
Delivering judgment, Justice Zuwaira Yusuf held that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond any reasonable doubt, describing the evidence presented as weak and contradictory.
The trial judge noted that none of the prosecution’s witnesses gave eyewitness accounts of the alleged crime, adding that there was no credible or direct evidence linking the defendant to the death of the deceased.
“The evidence before the court is riddled with contradictions. No witness testified as to how the defendant allegedly killed the deceased,” Justice Yusuf said.
She further ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the essential elements of the offence, stressing that suspicion, no matter how strong, cannot take the place of proof in criminal trials.
Consequently, the court found Fatima Dahiru not guilty of the charge and ordered her discharge and acquittal.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Lamido Abba-Sorondinki, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on February 6, 2019, at about 3:30 p.m. at Farawa Quarters. He alleged that Dahiru struck the deceased on the head with a sharp object, an action that reportedly resulted in her death.
The prosecution called seven witnesses, including the deceased’s husband, Isyaku Muhammad, who testified as the fifth prosecution witness.
The defendant denied the allegation. Her counsel, Mrs Habiba Abdullahi-Umar, called her to testify in her own defence, urging the court to dismiss the charge for lack of evidence.