A 36-year-old Ekiti woman stabs her supposed husband to death on the claim of having mental issues.

The middle-aged mentally challenged wife, identified as Janet Jegede has been remanded in court on Thursday as a criminal lunatic for killing her husband, identified as Kayode.

The suspect was arraigned before Justice Bamidele Omotoso on September 16, 2020, on one count bordering on murder.

According to the charge, the defendant “on November 17, 2019, at Ado Ekiti, did murder one Kayode Jegede (her husband) contrary to Section 316 and punishable under Section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.”

Her stepson, Ayomide, confirming the incident, revealed that he received a call from his stepmother asking him to come home to take his father to the hospital because she had killed him.

“When I got home, I met my father in the pool of his blood, gasping. I saw a knife hanging on his chest. I asked her what happened, but her explanation was incoherent.

“When I removed the knife, the bleeding increased. I went outside to call neighbours to help me take him to the hospital. He was rushed to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital where he was confirmed dead on arrival.

“My stepmother once reported my father to me asking me to warn him to stop infidelity. She had threatened to kill him if he refused to stop. I took it as an empty threat until she killed my father,” Ayomide had said.

The prosecution, Abayomi Olowoyo-Richard, summoned five witnesses and presented statements from the defendant, a knife, images of the deceased’s body, and witness testimonies as evidence.

Nevertheless, the defendant’s attorney, Emmanuel Adedeji, sought the court to dismiss and acquit her on the grounds of insanity, claiming that the defendant was mentally unstable at the time of the occurrence.

In his judgment, Justice Omotoso said, “It is settled that where a plea of insanity succeeds, the defendant will be ordered to be confined in a prescribed place to await further order of the appropriate authority.

“I hereby order that the defendant, Janet Jegede, be kept in custody as a criminal lunatic at a correctional services centre, off Afao Road, Ado Ekiti, until the governor’s pleasure be known in line with Section 223 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2011.”