This was sent in by a ScaryPlace reader who credits Reuters.
A Muslim sharia court has ordered that a 15-year-old boy's hand be amputated in Nigeria's northwestern Birmin-Kebbi state, newspapers reported on Wednesday.
The Birmin-Kebbi Upper Sharia Court convicted Abubakar Aliyu of stealing 32,000 naira ($286) from a businessman's home, the independent Guardian newspaper reported. His two accomplices, who confessed to helping plan the crime and holding the money for safekeeping, were sentenced to 50 lashes and 18 months in prison. The two were immediately given their lashes outside the court after they were sentenced on Friday.
Birmin-Kebbi's implementation of the strict Muslim legal code has been more moderate than neighboring Zamfara state, which was the first state to adopt sharia law in October 1999. Zamfara attracted international outrage in January when it gave a pregnant 17-year-old girl 180 lashes for having pre-marital sex. The girl said she had been raped.
The boy has the right to appeal the judgment in the sharia appeals court, the newspaper said. If his appeal fails the boy will be the first to have his hand amputated in Birmin-Kebbi since the state introduced the strict Muslim code in December.
The boy's sentence must also be ratified by the state
Sharia Implementation Committee and the state governor's cabinet before his
hand is cut off, the newspaper said.
There may be plenty of reasons to complain about our respective court systems, but this one makes you stop and think just how scary this world can be.