By Veronica Olayinka and ‘Jide Adesina
A call to Human Rights worldwide to intervene in the case of Wasila Umar the child bride that killed her husband.
According to UNICEF, in Niger, nearly one in every three girls is married before age 15. The practice leads to a high risk of infant and maternal mortality. Nearly all girls who marry early will drop out of school but to help reduce the numbers of girls dropping out of schools UNICEF and its partners are trying to convince parents to keep their children in school, and to let girls continue their schooling even if they do enter marriage.
In a UNICEF reporting and video footage, we learn about Laila from Yemeni who was forced into early marriage at the age of 13, a sixth grader at the time. According to Laila, ‘I was a child dreaming of everything good” instead she found herself repeatedly beaten by her mom for refusing to marry a man 20 years her senior. Eventually the parents succeeded in forcing her into early marriage to a man Laila dreaded.
After entering the marriage, she got sick and was rushed to the hospital. She bled for two months. In the aftermath, she tried to stab herself but her husband was able to stop her. Later on she developed anxiety attacks whenever the husband spoke to her. Laila shared her frustrations in the video, ‘I wish I could finish my education but I was destroyed by early marriage. I found myself with a man who wants his marital rights. They destroyed my life.”
We also meet an Ethiopian child bride by the name of Enana on the International Center for Research on Women who was forced into marriage before the age of 17. According to the article, we find out how Enana was forcibly married to a man 30 years her senior. Enana lamented on the frustrations, anger and disappointment she feels toward her parents for allowing such an egregious act. “”You’re supposed to be my parents, you’re supposed to protect me. Even today, I still get angry thinking about it.”
Fortunately, Enana is one of the privileged few that are receiving assistance from organizations like International Center for Research on Women who work closely with CARE-Ethiopia and local partners like TESFA. TESFA help build schools in Ethiopia and is funded by Nike Foundation.
The joy on the face of Aïchatou Mohamed in a video on UNICEF website says it all, a Malian refugee living with her family in Niger. Her parents agreed to the continuation of her education rather than early marriage. In the UNICEF reporting, “Aichatou likes school and is always on time. Ranked third in her class, she was elected by her schoolmates to represent the pupils at the school management committee, alongside the parents and the administration.”
This was made possible through the efforts of International Rescue Committee an NGO (supported by UNICEF) that work closely with parents encouraging them to allow their girls to continue their education, “As soon as we get the information, we get in touch with the community organizations so that they can play their part,” says Ousmane Oumarou of the NGO International Rescue Committee. “They inform people, meet people, and mediate between the school and the parents. And then, they come back to us.” “Even if we couldn’t stop the marriage, we meet the parents and push them to leave their daughters at school,” Mr. Oumarou says. “It’s working, for the moment – at least parents gave us their consent and children continue to attend school.”
In April 2014, Wasila Umar a 14 year old child bride, was detained by the police in Kano, Nigeria, accused of killing her “husband” and three of his friends by allegedly putting rat poison in food served to him. Wasila has confessed to killing them with the rat poison because she never loved him. What does a 14 year old know about love?
In recent news, AFRIKA HERALD learned that the case has been transferred to a High court instead of Juvenile court and the charge reads. “Wasila Tasiu allegedly killed Umar Sani, 35, Hassan Alhassan, 25, Nasiru Muhammad, 13, and Indo Ibrahim, 12, by poisoning them with a rat killer substance in their food, with intention of causing their deaths and you hereby committed an offence under Section 221 (a) of the Penal Code Law of Kano State 1990, Cap 105.” The suit has been scheduled for hearing on August 4 at Kano State High Court, Gezewa.
According to UNFPA, the United Nations Populations Fund, on the issue of child marriage in Nigeria,
“Nationwide, 20 percent of girls were married by age 15, and 40 percent were married by age 18.22 Child marriage is extremely prevalent in some regions; in the Northwest region, 48 percent of girls were married by age 15, and 78 percent were married by age 18.23 Although the practice of polygyny is decreasing in Nigeria, 27 percent of married girls aged 15–19 are in polygynous marriages.24” even though the Child Right’s Act passed in 2003 raised the marriage age to 18 for girls. The factors that contribute to the high rates in Nigeria according to UNFPA are the legal systems in Nigeria which constitutes of three different legal systems operating simultaneously—civil, customary, and Islamic—and state and federal governments have control only over marriages that take place within the civil system and federal law may be implemented differently at the state level, and to date, only a few of the country’s 36 states have begun developing provisions to execute the law.
According to the UNICEF Situation Analysis of Women and Children in Nigeria, “Child marriage is currently a major constraint for the development of children in Nigeria. According to the NBS (2006), 15 percent of women aged between 15 and 49 years married the age of 15 years. This trend is more rampant in the North west of Nigeria at 33 percent. The national figure for girls who married before the age of 18 is 40 percent, but 78 percent in the North west. Across the country 25 percent of women aged 15-19 years married before the age of 15. The figure is far lower in the South where it is less than 10 percent. Thirty-two percent of women aged 15-19 years are married or in union, but in the North west the figure stands at 58 percent (NBS, 2006. The more recent Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) also confirms that child marriage remains a current challenge in Nigeria. Among all females aged 20-49 years, 21.9 percent had been married by the age of 15 years and 46.1 percent had been married by the age of 18 years. More than a tenth (12.4 percent) of girls currently aged 15-19 years had already been married by the age of 15 years (NPC & ICF Macro, 2009)”
When we consider all these factors and the perspectives shared by the child brides mentioned here and the millions worldwide who continues to suffer in silence, we can empathize with Wasila Umar, the 14 year old child bride that poisoned her 35 year old husband 17 days after the ceremony.
Perhaps, like Laila, all Wasila Tasiu before being forced into marriage, wants in life is the opportunity to attend school and perhaps she also developed fear, anger and disappointment in her parents when forced to marry early, the way Enana did.
To be in a situation where one feels trapped, hopeless and fearful must be frightening for an adult talk less of a 14 year old. A girl that continually cries to be reunited with her family and friends as she endures a hard life in prison, a girl that was forced to commit an atrocious act as a result of man-made laws that defies logic and understanding. This girl is a vulnerable child that should have been protected by her parents and society, instead, she faces a life of uncertainty in prison. Even an adult like Pistorius is using fear as a form of defense for killing his girlfriend, and that is an adult that has experienced fame and fortune.
When she tells her side of the story: “I have never enjoyed the opportunity of going to Islamic school or acquiring Western education. My father forced me into this mess by stubbornly forcing me into a relationship I was not prepared to live in”
Though the efforts of the Federation of Women Lawyers who have taken up Wasila Umar’s defense is appreciated, the AFRIKA HERALD wishes to use this platform to reach out to Human rights organizations all over the world to get involved in the case of Wasila Tasiu Umar otherwise this girl will be used as a scapegoat in an effort to deter young girls from attempting such acts in the future and the vicious cycle will continue.
This is the technology age and we urge all to join hands to help save an innocent child bride that was forced to kill in an attempt to save her sanity. We also encourage organizations like UNICEF, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, International Rescue Committee and others to reach out to parents in the Northern part of Nigeria to educate them on the dangers associated with child marriages.
Sani Garba the deceased groom’s father, laments that Wasila was not forced into marriage, rather “They courted for 12 months and my son spent a fortune on her. The fact remains that the duo were no strangers to each other and it pains me the more when people try to cook up the forced marriage theory.”
A young girl being courted by a 35 year old man would be considered suspicious in many Western countries but when Section 29 (4) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution which suggests married girls as adults in the eyes of the law remain as is, then what hope do child brides have?
On July 16, 2013, the Nigerian Senate rejected a proposed amendment to Section 29 (4) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution with Senator Amhed Sani Yerima as one of the leading opposers, he argued that the amendment was in conflict with Islamic law which regards a married girl as an adult.
#SAVEWASILATASIUUMARNOW!
Her case has been adjourned, again! The next date is November 26.
Here is an insight on what the community (supported by UNICEF) are doing in Afghanistan to help reduce the number of girls that are forced to get married at an early age as a result of poverty
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