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Two women sentenced to death by stoning in Nigeria
Islamic courts in Nigeria sentenced two women to death by stoning for having sex out of wedlock, but two men whom they said they slept with were acquitted for lack of evidence, authorities said Tuesday. Both sentences, which were passed within the last month in the northern state of Bauchi, have to be confirmed by the state governor before being carried out, and they are open to appeal. Nobody has been lawfully stoned to death in Nigeria since 12 northern states introduced Islamic Sharia law in 2000, because all such sentences have been overturned on appeal. Hajara Ibrahim, a 29-year-old woman, was sentenced on Oct. 5 by an Islamic Sharia court in the Tafawa Balewa area of the state, having confessed to having sex with 35-year-old Dauda Sani and becoming pregnant, the court said in a statement. "The court has however handed the woman convict to her guardian to take care of her until she delivers the baby before the sentence will be executed by stoning her to death according to the provisions of the Sharia penal code," the court said. "There is no evidence to link him with the allegation and consequently the court acquitted him for lack of evidence." The second woman, 26-year-old Daso Adamu, was handed the same sentence on September 15 by a Sharia court in Ningi area of Bauchi state, said judge Ahmed Musa Wurojamel. Adamu admitted to having sex with a 35-year-old man 12 times, and is now in custody in Ningi prison, the judge added. Sharia judgments often go unreported in Nigeria because they are handed down in small, remote court houses and local media interest is limited. Previous sentences of death by stoning for adultery in 2002 and 2003 were overturned by higher Sharia courts after international appeals for clemency. The adoption of Sharia law in northern Nigeria has polarized Africa's most populous nation, whose 130 million population is split roughly evenly between Muslims and Christians. Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-10-12 |
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