The Kano State High Court on Friday sentenced a housewife, Fadila Adamu, to death by hanging for kidnapping and throwing an eight-year-old girl into a well, causing her death.
The defendant, who lives in the Sabuwar Gandu Quarters, Kano, was convicted of kidnapping and culpable homicide.
Delivering judgment, Justice Yusuf Muhammad-Ubale ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced the defendant to death by hanging.
“I hereby sentence the defendant to death by hanging for kidnapping and throwing the victim into a well, which caused her death,” he ruled.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Lamido Abba-Sorondinki, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on July 14, 2019, at the Tudun Wada Quarters, Kano.
He said that at about 4:45 p.m., the defendant kidnapped the minor and took her to her house.
“The defendant told her sister that the deceased was the daughter of her friend, whose mother had travelled to Ghana and asked her to keep the child until she returned.
“On July 17, 2019, at about 6:30 p.m., the defendant caused the death of the minor when she threw her into a deep well situated in the Tukuntawa Quarters Kano,” he said.
Mr Abba-Sorondinki presented seven witnesses, including the defendant’s statements and a medical report confirming the victim’s death.
The defendant denied committing the offence.
The prosecution said the offence contravened sections 274(b) and 221(a) of the Penal Code.
The defence counsel, Zulaihat Tata, presented four witnesses, including the defendant, to testify in her defence.