A young man and his girlfriend have been arrested by the Kano State Hisbah Board for allegedly getting married to each other without their parents’ knowledge.

The young couple, whose identity was not revealed, were said to have conceived the idea of the marriage after reportedly seeing another man and his wife romancing each other in public while they were passing by.

It was gathered that the young man and his girlfriend, both residents of Kurna area of Kano city, then agreed to get married on a dowry of 20,000 and asked their friends to serve as their respective representatives.

Kano focus reported that an assistant commander of Hisbah Malam Shehu Tasi’u Ishaq told Dala FM that the couple’s friends conducted the marriage rites after the groom paid N2,000 while the bride lent N18,000 to complete the N20,000 bride price as agreed.

Mr Ishaq said during the three months of the marriage, the groom continued to have sexual relations with his ‘wife’ leading to a pregnancy.

He added that even though the marriage is illegal because the consent of the girl’s father was not sought, but  the man and his girlfriend could not be said to have committed fornication while the unborn child could also not be described as a bastard.

The Hisbah official also cautioned married spouses to desist from expressing romance to each other in public, saying such acts encourage immorality in the society.