Nigerian Sentenced to Stoning for Adultery Flees Her Home

Safiya Tungar-Tudu, 33, was condemned Oct. 9 by a Muslim court in the state of Sokoto, in northwestern Nigeria.

The woman disappeared from her home early last week, Attahiru Mai-Akwai Gwadabawa, the state´s information commissar, said in a telephone call from Sokoto, 700 kilometers (430 miles) north of Lagos.

"I have heard talk of the escape; I have been informed," Gwadabawa said, confirming an article in the Daily Trust newspaper.

The government of Sokoto, which last year joined the list of states of northern Nigeria that enforce the Shariah, or Islamic law, will begin legal consultations on how to proceed, Gwadabawa added.

According to Shariah, adultery must be punished by stoning to death. The man accused in the case was released by the same court for "insufficient evidence."
<br> Human rights groups have condemned the death sentence against the woman.