Not My Portion: 'I cannot cover my body with black cloth' - Divorce seeking woman tells court

A woman whose husband expects her to stay in Purdah and cover herself has sought for a divorce as she cannot follow the instructions.

A woman seeking a divorce in a court in Ilorin, Kwara State, has told the court that her reason for wanting her marriage to be dissolved is that she cannot cover herself with black clothes all her life.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the woman, Azanat Bashiru, who dragged her husband, Mumin Bashiru to the court to seek the dissolution of their two-year-old marriage, said she does not want to stay in Purdah, a practice in certain Muslim societies where married women are made to cover themselves to avoid being seen by men or strangers.

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However, Azanat told the court that her husband and father of her two children did not tell her that she would be put in Purdah neither were they in agreement that she would be required to cover herself all the days of her life.

Explaining her stand in court, Azanat said:

“This is not in our agreement. I cannot be covering my body with the black cloth, including my eyes, all of the time."

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The husband, Mumin did not, however, raise any objection to the demand of his wife as he insisted that going by the tenets of his religion, his wife must be in Purdah and cover herself when going out and if she does not want to abide by that, she is free to go.