Father buries his day old baby alive in Jigawa State

A father, Ashiru Abubakar has been arrested by the police in Jigawa state after he buried his own day old baby alive.

According to Daily Trust, the suspect from Janbiri village in Birnin-Kudu local government, Jigawa state found himself entangled in the web of Islamic Jurisprudence, which forbids one from re-marry his former wife once divorced thrice unless she remarries elsewhere.

The 20-year-old had divorced his wife Husaina Yusuf, 20 thrice but his love to her remained fresh in his memory. Instead of resigning to his fate he decided to engage his former wife into illicit sexual intercourse which resulted in an unwanted pregnancy.

He, therefore, attempted to reject the pregnancy but when his former wife stood her ground until he later accepted it.

Despite owning up to the pregnancy, his former wife insisted for the termination of the three months old pregnancy, telling him that she won’t be able to stand the stigma attached to the bearing of an illegitimate child in her locality.

In order to press home her demand, Hussaina threatened to kill the baby at birth but Abubakar was able to persuade her to drop the idea after agreeing to visit one of the private hospitals in Kachako in neighbouring Kano state for the abortion procedure.

But she was later advised at the hospital not to terminate the pregnancy as there are possibilities for her to experience a permanent damage to her uterus in which she would not be able to bear children again.

Finally, Hussaina was convinced to spare the pregnancy.

Penultimate Friday, Husaina’s younger brother went to Abubakar and told him that his former wife had given birth to a baby girl at around noon and that by the following day they are bringing the child to him.

Since, he did not remarry after his separation with his former wife, Abubakar was thrown into confusion, not knowing what to do if the child was brought to him the following morning as threatened by his former wife’s younger brother.

In order to save himself from the looming embarrassment, Abubakar dashed to the village of his former wife, sneaked into her room and stole the baby but in his wisdom, he decided to bury the day-old baby alive with a view to laying the impending troubles to rest.

Speaking to Chronicle at Jigawa state police command, Abubakar said he allowed the saga to go out of hand because he was doubting the authenticity of his former wife’s claim of him being the father of the child, noting that though, he admitted, he did not take any action to justify his stand over the out of wedlock pregnancy.

He argued that by law he knew no woman is allowed to travel to Saudia Arabia while pregnant but his former wife claimed to have travelled the holly land while carrying his pregnancy.

He suspected that his former wife might have got the pregnancy while Saudi Arabia, claiming that he is not responsible for the pregnancy.

On why he had to buried his own child alive, Abubakar, said

“The mother said after giving birth, she will sit on the child until the baby dies but I pleaded with her that instead, let us look for someday that will nurse the baby.

But it seems, all that I suggested went into a deaf ear. I, therefore, decided to steal the baby in order to save her the eminent danger. I buried the baby with the intention to remove her the following day in order to look for where she would be nursed.

I did not burry the baby with an intent to kill her.