Kano-born Sadiya Salihu died from starvation and psychological trauma allgedly caused by her husband, her family says.
The deceased before her death, was evacuated from her matrimonial house in Yobe State where was kept indoor for months.
In an interview with BBC Hausa, Aisha Salihu, the deceased’s sister, explained that Sadiya was brought to Kano, taken to hospital but could not make it.
Aisha added that doctors in the hospital told them Sadiya suffered starvation and she was psychologically traumatised.
“After she was brought home, she was taken to a hospital where she spent four days without even talking. It was on the fifth day that she began to talk, when I asked her how is she feeling and she answered that she is getting better,” Aisha said.
“Honestly no one knows what led to her condition, but her children who were brought together with her said their father was not feeding Sadiya except a half cup of pap and water, and a small smoked dried local bird called hasbiya in a day,” Aisha continued. “The children also revealed that their father bathed Sadiya with a filthy water and thereafter forced her to cover her body with a blanket under a thick smoke.”
According to Aisha, the husband also gave the family a herb to be using on her, saying the her ailment is not treatable in any hispital.
When contacted, Dumus Abdulkarim, spokesman for Yobe Police Command told newsmen the deceased’s husband has been arrested “but he denied keeping his wife without food.”
The spokesman explained that the command is awaiting an autopsy report to determine the cause of the deceased’s death.
