One Mrs Bilkisu Abdullahi, a nursing mother has been ordered by a Shari’a Court sitting at Rigasa, Kaduna, on Monday to breast feed her two months old baby in replacement of dowry she would have returned to her estranged husband.
Dissolving the marriage after hearing from the former husband and wife, the judge, Malam Salisu Abubakar-Tureta, gave the ruling.
Bilkisu had sued her former husband and prayed the court to dissolve her marriage to Abdullahi Adamu through Khul’I, otherwise known as redemption.
Khul’i is a form of divorce where a wife returns the dowry she collected from the husband.
Counsel to the complainant, Sagir Salisu told the Court that her client got N80,000 as dowry from the defendant, but wants to breastfeed the baby for 20 months.
The Counsel said, the breastfeeding of the baby for.the said month would have liquidated the amount of dowry that would have been returned, since the divorce request was at Bilikisu’s instance.
The defendant (Abdullahi Adamu) who had been personally served was absent in Court and didnt send a representative.
The judge however cited Order 9, Rule 3 of the Shari’a Civil Procedure Rules, saying the Court would proceed with the hearing of the case.
“I hereby dissolve the union between Abdullahi Adamu and Bilkisu Adamu through Khul’I and she will breastfeed her daughter for 20 months.
“Anyone who is not okay with the ruling can appeal to the Upper Shari’a Court within 30 days,“ the judge ruled.
