General
Source: ABC News
A 14-year-old Nigerian child bride is accused of murdering four people, including her 35-year-old husband, by lacing food she had prepared for a post-marriage celebration with rat poison.
The case had outraged human rights activists, who said a girl married to a man more than twice her age should be treated as a victim, not a criminal.
Wasila Tasi'u, from a poor, rural family in the mainly Muslim north, could face the death penalty if convicted.
Prosecutor Lamido Abba Soron-Dinki's first witness was a seven-year-old girl identified as Hamziyya, who was living in the same house as Tasi'u and her husband Umar Sani, when the child bride allegedly laced his food with rat poison.
Hamziyya was identified as the sister of Mr Sani's "co-wife", referring to a woman the deceased farmer had married previously, in a region where polygamy is widespread.
14-year old Wasila Tasi'u speaks with her defence counsel outside the courtroom. AFP: Aminu Abubakar
The seven-year-old testified that Tasi'u had given her money to buy rat poison from a local shop on April 5, the day Mr Sani died.
"She said rats were disturbing her in her room," Hamziyya told the court.
The prosecution alleged that Tasi'u instead put the poison in food she had prepared for a post-marriage celebration, perhaps because she regretted her decision to marry Mr Sani.
Child bride refused to speak in court
Judge Mohammed Yahaya, sitting at the Gezawa High Court, had entered a plea of not guilty for Tasi'u, who refused to respond at a previous hearing on October 30 when the charges were put to her.
The judge rejected defence applications for the case to be transferred to a juvenile court.
Hamziyya's testimony was supported by Abuwa Yusuf, a shopkeeper in the town of Unguwar Yansoro, who confirmed selling the poison to the child.
Mr Sani's neighbour, 30-year-old farmer Abdulrahim Ibrahim, testified he was offered the food allegedly prepared by Tasi'u.
"When he brought the food (I) noticed some sandy-like particles, black in colour," he told the court.
He ate four of the small balls made of bean paste but "was not comfortable with the taste", he said, adding: "It was only Umar who continued eating."
He said he later saw Mr Sani in the garden, visibly ill, and took him home.
While trying to care for Mr Sani, he learnt that three others who ate the food had died suddenly.
Prosecutors alleged that Tasi'u's poisoned food killed four people, and had joined all the reported deaths into one murder charge.
Nigeria had not executed a juvenile offender since 1997, when the country was ruled by military dictator Sani Abacha, according to Human Rights Watch.