Nigerian woman loses appeal against stoning death

An Islamic court in northern Nigeria ruled on Monday that a young woman must face death by stoning for having a child outside marriage.

"We hereby uphold the judgment of the (lower) Bakori Sharia court that decreed that you be sentenced to death by stoning," the president of the Upper Sharia court told the woman, Amina Lawal Kurami, 31.

But the judge, Abdullahi Aliyu Katsina, said the stoning would not be carried out until Kurami had weaned her eight-month-old baby, which may not be for another two years.

Holding the child in her arms, Kurami remained calm and was quickly whisked away by her lawyers who said they would appeal the decision.

The introduction of Sharia or Islamic law has been controversial in the largely Muslim north of Nigeria where more than 3,000 people have died in Muslim-Christian clashes in the past three years. Kurami's case has sparked international outrage and risks stoking religious tensions.

REUTERS