Emir Sanusi Advocates Stiffer Penalties For GBV Offenders

The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II has called for a stiffer punishment against perpetrators of Gender-based Violence (GBV) in Kano State.

The Monarch made the call when he received a delegation from the development Research and Project Centre (dRPC) and Center for Islamic Civilisation and Interfaith Dialogue (CICID), Bayero University Kano (BUK), on a courtesy visit backed by Ford Foundation.

Sanusi said a larger percentage of cases pending before Shariah courts in the state were related to gender based violence.

The revered monarch further hinted that plans were underway to review the family law in the state, to help in addressing 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.

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“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 harm. And it must be removed.

“I have my own rules that any district head who lays 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.”

The Emir added, “During my Ph.D, 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 showed 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 implementing the family law in the state.

He, therefore, sought the support of the Emir to allow them to train traditional title holders under his emirate, on the roles they could play in addressing the menace.

He revealed that the centre has trained Shari’a court judges and Islamic clerics on adjudicating on GBV-related issues and helped them to deliver judgement with ease.