A bride identified as Fiddausi is said to have fled hours after her wedding because her husband did not provide all the items required for the traditional marriage.
The incident reportedly happened on May 6 at Hayi, along Kaduna Road, Kaduna.
Shuaib Dauda, Fiddausi’s husband who earns a living as an auto mechanic, is said to have spent over N260,000 on the ceremony but could not afford bags and clothes for his bride.
Abubakar Haruna, Fiddausi’s father, told NAN that he married out two of his daughters, Fiddausi to Dauda and Saliha to one Muhammadu Murtala, on the same day.
Haruna said before the marriage, Dauda and Murtala promised to comply with all the religious and traditional obligations for the marriage such as the dowry and buying of clothes and boxes for the brides.
“After the wedding ceremony, Dauda said he could not afford to buy the clothes and boxes to the bride as promised earlier,” Haruna said.
“Fiddausi, realising that Murtala (the husband to Saliha) had redeemed his promise and presented the traditional gifts and Dauda did not ran away to the neighbouring house until her bridegroom fulfilled his own promise.”
He said bedding, traditional kitchen wares, furniture and other domestic utensils had already been taken to Dauda’s home ahead of the conveyance of Fiddausi to her new home.
Dauda complained to the police after the people he sent to the bride’s home to fetch her, in accordance with the tradition, did not see her.
Aliyu Lawal, officer in charge of Kaduna-Road Police outpost in Suleja, subsequently deployed some officers to Fiddausi’s home and arrested her parents and guardian.
Lawal said the foot-dragging by the brides’ family to deliver the bride to the bridegroom led to the disruption of peace in the area, hence the arrest of the parents and the marriage guardian.
“They were arrested on Sunday, May 6, and granted bail on Monday, May 7,” Lawal said.
But Haruna said while they were searching for Fiddausi, the team sent by the Dauda to fetch his bride to the matrimonial home hinted Dauda of the sudden disappearance of the bride.
He claimed Dauda mobilised his friends who stormed his compound, insisting that Fiddausi must be produced. In the process, they allegedly molested him and brutalised Bayi, his wife.
Haruna said while the thugs were molesting his family and his guests, the police officers from Kaduna Road outpost arrested him, his wife and his younger brother, Umar Musa, who is also the marriage guardian.
Haruna dismissed the allegation by the police that he was arrested for disrupting public peace in the community. Rather, he explained that the police asked him to refund N260,000 to Dauda, being the amount he spent on the marriage.
He said when he failed to pay the money as demanded, he was detained together with his wife and Musa.
They were arrested but granted bail a day later, following the intervention of Haruna’s lawyer on the condition that they would bring the money the following day or risk prosecution.
Meanwhile, Fiddausi has returned to her father’s house. (NAN)
