EXEMPTION OF WOMEN FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY IN STATUTORY MARRIAGES IN NIGERIA

Some years back, there was a couple who had contracted its marriage at a court registry somewhere in south-eastern Nigeria under the Marriage Act. Prior to their wedding and during their courtship, the wife had discovered  that her husband was hot-tempered but she took time to address this in her prayers in the hope that he would change.After the wedding, the husband was able to man his temperament for some time until one night when there was a little quarrel between the wife and their neighbour which soon graduated to a fight due to the husband's attitude which soon aggravated the squabble.

At the peak of the fight, the husband held the neighbour, who was a woman, and ordered her wife to slap her and strip her naked.Initially, the wife was reluctant to do this as she felt this would be outrageous but could not help it when the husband threatened that he would deal with her seriously if she did not carry out his command. She was then compelled to beat the woman mercilessly and strip her naked while she was being held by her spouse.

The husband of the woman who was rough-handled by this couple soon returned home from his station in a neighbouring town upon hearing the news of his wife's treatment by this couple. Consequently, the matter was reported to the police and the police decided to prosecute the couple after a thorough investigation.

Upon the couple's arraignment in court, the wife pleaded not guilty to the charge brought against her.As she was a lawyer, she had it in mind not to plead guilty because she felt she could not be criminally liable for the crime she was compelled to commit by her husband in his presence.

What is the fate of this woman in law?

THE LEGAL POSITION
By virtue of section 33 of the Criminal Code Act Cap. 42, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, the wife of a statutory marriage as in the above scenario is not criminally responsible for an act her husband compels her to do in his physical presence provided that the act is not punishable by death or it does not involve a grievous bodily harm.

Thus, in our scenario, the wife could not be held responsible for the act of beating her neighbour and  stripping her naked as she was only carrying out the instruction of her husband, who was holding the woman, in the circumstances. It was her husband alone that would face the consequences of this act.

This provision is justified on the ground that the law regards a man and his wife as one.So, whatever a woman does in carrying out the instruction of her husband, who compelled her to do so in his presence, is presumed to have been done by the man alone.The beauty of this provision is that while the law recognises the oneness of a couple in a statutory marriage, it also seeks to protect the woman who is presumed to be of the weaker sex in such situation. Therefore, men should be careful! You don't do what the husband of the woman did in the scenario even if your wife has been severely beaten. There is a mature approach in law by which the culprit can be brought to book.

Before I go, I want to leave my readers with a poser. Assuming the woman, the assailant in the scenario inflicted bodily harm on her victim or killed her in the process, would her fate have been the same in  law? In other words, would the law have still excused her and allowed her husband to face the consequences of the act alone?

I shall address this in my next post tomorrow.

Thank you for reading

See you tomorrow.

DISCLAIMER: THE ENTIRE PUBLIC SHOULD TAKE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE STORY IS FICTION AND IT IS ONLY FOR EDUCATIVE PURPOSES AND IF IT, EITHER WHOLLY OR  PARTLY, BEARS ANY SIMILARITY TO THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF ANY INDIVIDUAL AT ANY PLACE OR POINT IN TIME, IT IS HEREBY AFFIRMED THAT IT IS A MERE COINCIDENCE.