GUSAU, Nigeria, Feb 14 (AFP) - A farm laborer in northern Nigeria has been fined the equivalent of $1,500 by an Islamic court for knocking out his wife's teeth in a quarrel, officials said Monday.
Halima Tsafe took her husband, Dantanim, to the Islamic Sharia court here last week after he beat her so badly during a row over the running of the family home that she lost her front teeth, a court official said.
Presiding judge Idris Usman Gusau announced a fine of 157,933.70 naira, or around $1,500.
Should the man be unable to pay, or raise the sum, the woman can ask to have his teeth removed or grant him forgiveness, Gusau said.
The case is the second to be heard in the capital of northern Zamfara State since the introduction of Sharia law for criminal matters last month. Last week, a man found guilty of drinking was given 80 lashes of the whip in public.
Christians in Nigeria claim the extension of Sharia law from family to criminal law in Zamfara matters violates the 1999 Nigerian constitution.
But Hajira Suleiman, a civil servant in Gusau, said women were pleased with the passing of the sentence. "Husbands who were in the habit of beating their wives will have doubts about it now," she said.
Dantanim Tsafe, who pleaded guilty to the offense, said he did not know how he would pay the fine imposed by the court.
The average income in Nigeria is under one dollar a day.
