Authorities in Nigeria say a 19-year-old woman who was forced into marriage allegedly stabbed her 35-year-old husband to death after he refused to honor her request for a divorce. The Tuesday incident happened three weeks after she was forced to marry him.
Per The East African, the incident happened at a village in Adamawa State. The woman, identified as Rumasa’u Muhammed, was reportedly forced by her parents to marry the deceased man, Muhammed Adamu.
But weeks after the forced marriage, Rumasa’u told her husband she wasn’t interested in their union and asked for a divorce. The man, however, declined Rumasa’u’s request, causing her to allegedly stab him to death on Tuesday. Adamu was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Rumasa’u has since been arrested and the incident is being investigated, Adamawa State Police Command spokesperson, Sulaiman Nguroje, said. And though Nguroje said forced marriages were wrong and becoming a trend, he said Rumasa’u will still be made to answer her case before the court to prevent others from also taking the law into their own hands.
Responding to the incident, an Islamic scholar who spoke to The East African said the religion doesn’t condone forced marriages. And though parents may have much input over the marriage process, he said Islam does not permit forced unions.
Forced marriages are illegal in Nigeria and punishable by a seven-year jail term.
