Police arrest father as residents allege the teenager resisted attempts to marry her to a man of her father’s choice.

By Sadiq Abdulfatah

The Katsina State Police Command has arrested a man, Kabir Sani, in connection with the death of his teenage daughter, Ummul Khair, who allegedly died after being beaten during a dispute over forced marriage.

Sani, a commercial driver and resident of the Shagari Low-Cost area of Katsina metropolis, was arrested by officers of the Katsina Central Market Police Division shortly after the incident.

According to residents, the deceased, believed to be between 16 and 18 years old, had resisted repeated attempts by her father to marry her to a man of his choice, leading to tension within the family.

Witnesses said the father allegedly began beating the girl on Wednesday. Neighbours reportedly heard her cries and knocked several times on the door to intervene, but Sani allegedly refused to allow them into the house.

The beating reportedly continued until Thursday morning, when the teenager became unconscious.

The incident was discovered when some of the girl’s friends visited the house on Thursday morning to accompany her to school. They reportedly found her dead while her father was preparing her body for burial and alerted neighbours, who then contacted the police.

A resident said the teenager had insisted on deciding her own future, while her father remained determined to marry her to a man of his choice.

The deceased was buried on Thursday morning at the Abbatoir Cemetery in Katsina metropolis according to Islamic rites.

According to the police, the suspect remained in custody at the Katsina Central Market Police Division as detectives investigated the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death.

The spokesperson for the Katsina State Police Command, DSP Sadik Aliyu, confirmed that he was aware of the incident and said further details would be provided after the ongoing investigation.

Edited by Abdullahi Yusuf