On 5 October 1905, Baia Bari of Gassin village went before the tribunal
de province of Segu seeking a divorce from her husband, Tiemoko Boaré of
Koila. Both Baia Bari and Tiemoko Boaré were Muslims. Baia Bari claimed
that Tiemoko Boaré had mistreated her and that she was prepared to return
the bridewealth. In addition, Baia Bari sought the return of 27,000 cowries
she claimed Tiemoko Boaré had taken from her, although she did not present
any ‘proof’. Tiemoko Boaré agreed to the divorce but denied having taken
the money. The court pronounced the divorce and called for Tiemoko Boaré
to recover the bridewealth he and his kin had provided to Baia Bari's kin.
The court dismissed Baia Bari's claim for the return of 27,000 cowries,
because she had failed to produce evidence of the alleged ‘loan’. Neither Baia
Bari nor Tiemoko Boaré appealed the court's verdict.How Baia Bari came to bring suit for divorce against her husband for
mistreatment and how the provincial court, presided over by the leading
African notables of Segu, saw fit to intervene in the domestic affairs of the
Boaré household is the subject of this article. The data provided in the
‘Register of Civil and Commercial Judgements Rendered by the Provincial
Court of Segu during the Third Quarter of 1905’ are not detailed enough for
us to ‘hear’ Baia Bari's complaints about marital mistreatment. Nor does the
register tell us anything about how the members of the court understood the
evidence of mistreatment, which they accepted, and Baia Bari's claim for the
return of 27,000 cowries, which they rejected. Despite the sparse annotation
of this case, Baia Bari's legal action raises at least two questions. First, from
where did the provincial court ‘receive’ the authority to intervene in the
domestic affairs of the Boaré household? Second, why did Baia Bari turn to
the provincial court to seek the dissolution of her marriage?
