How my wife was killed 70 days after our wedding - Husband

Category: News Published on Saturday, 16 March 2013 05:00 Written by Haruna Gimba Yaya, Kano Hits: 489

Barely two months into her marriage, 22-year old Fatima was strangled to death in her matrimonial home by yet to be identified persons in Kano.

He was still wearing a mournful look when Weekly Trust visited his home at Sabuwar Gandu area of Kano suburb last Wednesday. Around the premises were some bands of sympathizers who came to condole him over the murder of his dear wife few days earlier.
Ibrahim Idris, an accountant with National Orthopedic Hospital, Dala in Kano was moved to tears when Weekly Trust sought his reaction to the unfortunate demise of a wife he wedded barely two months ago. His eyes misted over when the question was put to him and amidst tears, with apparent efforts, he narrated the story of a death which neighbours described as most “foul” around the area in recent times.
 His 22-year-old bride, Fatima Hassan Mahmud was strangled to death in their home by unknown assailants last Friday, few hours after he left for work. They were married for just 69-days.
 The attackers had sneaked into the house and snubbed life out of the wife before fleeing the scene.
The victim, who was a Home Economics student at the Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi, was killed just a day to celebrating her 70 days in wedlock.
According to  Ibrahim Idris, the killers of his wife took nothing in the house except a power generating set, despite the fact that the couple had some property in the house.
Idris  told Weekly Trust  that he was yet to get over the shock over the incident, even as he is confused on the motive behind the gruesome murder of his beloved wife.
He narrated how he returned from work and met his heartthrob’s lifeless body on their matrimonial bed. “When I arrived home from work that fateful Friday, I noticed that the house was unusually quiet and my wife, who always met me at the gate, was nowhere to be found. After parking my motorcycle, I noticed that our generator was missing,” he said.
Even with the strange absence of their generating set, it did not occur to him that his wife could come to any harm.
“It was when I saw a ladder by the wall that I became suspicious. I then rushed into the room close to the place where we keep the generator, but to my surprise, the room was open. When I entered the sitting room, I discovered that our belongings were scattered everywhere and nothing was missing,   though there were property worth over N200,000,” he explained.
“I rushed into our bedroom and found her lifeless body on our bed. I believe she must have been strangled as there were marks on her body. I then called my neighbour who assisted me to take her to the hospital where she was pronounced dead,” he said.
Idris suspected that his 69-day-old bride was killed around 12pm, when people in the area had left for the Friday prayers. “There was a boy who runs some errands for us who usually comes between the hour of 10am and 12pm. The incident must have happened after he has left for an errand, because after he came back and knocked the gate, there was no response and that was how he kept the message with our neighbours, thinking she was in the bathroom,” he stated.
According to the bereaved husband, his bride was hale and hearty on the day she was brutally killed, as she never complained of any illness since their marriage, a little over two months. “She has not fallen sick throughout the 69 days we spent together and there was no sign that she was disturbed by anything. In fact, she has an examination to write on Saturday (a day after she was killed),” added.
Weekly Trust gathered that hundreds of people have been thronging the husband’s family house to offer their condolences over the killing.
Kano State Police Command spokesperson, ASP Magaji Musa Majia, confirmed the incident, saying the assailants strangled the woman to death and fled the scene using a ladder.
Majia said the police were yet to make any arrest in connection with the killing, but, however, said investigation has since commenced.