Emir Sanusi Seeks Stiffer Punishment For Wife Beaters

The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II has advocated for a stiffer punishment against men beating their wives.

According to Sanusi, the perpetrators of Gender-based Violence(GBV) must be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.

The monarch made the call when he received, on a courtesy visit, a delegation from the Development Research and Project Centre (dRPC) and Centre for Islamic Civilisation and Interfaith Dialogue (CICID), Bayero University Kano, BUK, while on a visit with support from Ford Foundation.

Sanusi said a larger percentage of cases pending before the Shariah courts were related to GBV.

He further hinted that plans were underway to review the state’s family law to help address some of the challenges related to divorce and family relationships, among others.

According to him, “I never believe in beating women, and those who do are not beating their wives with the intention of reforming them. What we see today is even serious beating and injuring of women in the name of reforming them.

“Islam has respected and dignified women more than any other religion, and all those seeking cover under it to abuse women do not even understand the religion. Whosoever beats and injures his wife is not a good person. I did not say this; it is the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who said it. It is those who do not read who don’t know.

“Beating your wife or beating your daughter or beating a woman is prohibited. It is a crime. Let’s not even talk about using a handkerchief or a chewing stick. It is just haram. It is prohibited. Allah says, All harm must be removed. And beating, gender-based violence is harmful. And it must be removed,” Sanusi said.

Speaking further, the emir said, “I have my own rules that any of his district heads who lay their hands on their wife will be stripped of their traditional title.

I therefore recommend that perpetrators be punished based on the level of atrocities committed.

“During my PhD thesis, which is on codification of Islamic family law, I studied nine Kano Shari’a courts over the period of five years, and the findings show that the trend of GBV is rampant in our society,” Sanusi said.

Earlier, the CICID Director, Dr Taofeek Hussain, called on the Emir to advocate for the implementation of the family law in the state.

He sought the Emir’s permission to train traditional title holders under his emirate on the roles they could play in addressing the issue.

He noted that the centre has trained Shari’a court judges and Islamic clerics on ways of adjudicating on GBV-related issues and helping them deliver judgments with ease.