Kano Teenage Bride who Refused Sexual Relations with Her Husband Mutilated by Local Barber trying to “solve her problem”

After Kaltume Ibrahim Mai-Kaji from Sabuwar Kaura village in Doguwa Local Government Area of Kano State got married to her husband Aminu Ali in 2013 at the age of 15, she refused to have sexual affairs with him and Aminu was greatly troubled.

Aminu, who is from Jidawa village in Jigawa State complained to his family and was told to exercise patience as that reaction is expected of girls her age.

While in search of a “solution”, Daily Trust reports that Aminu tried several herbs on Kaltume but the situation didn’t change. He also sought help from his father in-law Mallam Ibrahim Mai-Kaji who then told him to send his wife back home.

When Kaltume got back home, Mai-Kaji enlisted the help of a local barber Mallam Shu’aibu Wanzam who promised to “solve the problem”.

Unfortunately, Wanzam damaged Kaltume’s vagina in the process of circumcising her.

19-year-old Kaltume currently urinates through a tube that was carefully strapped above her sex organ, which medical doctors confirmed was completely damaged.

Mai-Kaji speaking to Daily Trust said:

When my daughter was sent back by her husband, I also tried herbal medicines in my effort to solve her problem. I thought a local barber could help us; hence I invited Shu’aibu Wanzam to see if the problem was related to his job.

I told him to treat her if he could or we would try another means of solving the problem. After he checked her, Wanzam said he could treat her and I gave him the go-ahead. I did that to save my daughter’s marriage because my son-in-law had been to several places searching for solution.

Wanzam and his friend came to my house and did their work, but unfortunately, since then, the girl has been unable to urinate through the normal process. It is now three years and some months. We have been to Doguwa Hospital and the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), but there has not been any improvement.

A tube was attached to her urinary tract, which is being changed every two weeks. We visit Doguwa Hospital every two weeks to replace the tube.

Mai-Kaji added that he did not force his daughter to marry Aminu, saying that she loved him that was why she married him.

“Before she got married, Kaltume was in the habit of rejecting every suitor that approached her. Whenever her mother asked her to talk to them she would say no. She would say there was no need to deceive the person if she would not marry him.

At last, she chose her current husband and stopped collecting gifts from other men or talking to anyone as a suitor. Anytime she was offered a gift she would turn it down because she already had a suitor. Till today, Kaltume loves her husband,’’ he said.

The matter was reported to the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II who then summoned the family and the ward head of the area to his palace. After listening to the sad story, Sanusi said:

I will not allow this barbaric practice to continue in Kano under my watch. Any traditional ruler who allows this to happen in his area will lose his title and anybody who contributed to it would be punished accordingly.

I have directed the Commissioner of Police to arrest Wanzam and whoever had a hand in this heinous crime. They will be punished. If the commissioner fails to do something, I will personally petition the Inspector-General of Police on this matter. I will follow Kaltume’s case to its logical conclusion. I will not let this matter to be carpeted.

The Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Magaji Musa Majia, said Kaltume’s father had been arrested adding that the local barber is still at large.

Photo Credit: Daily Trust