Married at 13, now 20, woman seeks divorce, husband demands N300,000

Aisha Haruna , 20, of Uke in Nasarawa State on Tuesday at a Grade 1 Area Court in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, maintained her divorce request.
Aisha had on May 29 filed a suit seeking separation from her husband, Hussaini Haruna, 27, of Gurku Village,
At the resumption of hearing, she told the court that she and her husband could not resolve the matter after the last adjourned date on Aug. 19.
The husband, who spoke through his counsel, Nuru Mua’zu, demanded Islamic procedure of divorce.
“This is an Islamic matter and there are procedures to follow before a wife is granted her wish for divorce.
“One of the procedures is that the woman has to pay what is known as ‘Kuli’.
“Kuli means, paying back some of the expenses the husband made in the course of marrying the wife.
“Though I don’t have the document here, but the total expenses is around N300,000,” Mua’zu said.
He told the court that Aisha was eight months pregnant for Haruna.
Mua’zu applied for adjournment to enable him bring the document containing the list of expenses.
The presiding judge, Mr Musa Danjuma, granted the counsel’s application and adjourned the case to Sept. 2 for continuation of hearing.
The wife had earlier told the court that her parents gave her out in marriage at the age of 13 without her consent.
The mother of one said that she stayed in the marriage for seven years, adding that she had lost interest in the marriage.
She said her loss of interest was on the ground that she was a child at that time the marriage was contracted. (NAN)*