She stabbed her husband as he raped her. Now a court has sentenced her to death
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Noura Hussein, a 19-year-old Sudanese woman has been sentenced to death for stabbing her husband to death as he raped her, a report in CNN said.
Her husband's family refused to pardon her and rejected financial compensation, saying that she should be executed instead.
The judge announced the death penalty to the 19-year-old in Omdurman on Thursday.
The case throws the spotlight on the forced marriages in Sudan where the legal age of marriage is only 10 years and marital rape is legal.
Support has poured in and the courtroom on Noura's last trial was full of people who expressed their solidarity with her.
Twitter is also full of supportive posts:
Sign the petition to save Noura Hussein victim of rape ! Over 40,000 signatures in only four days already ! #JusticeForNourahttps://t.co/PJwH91DiO9
— Marie (@Marie14399022) May 10, 2018
Justice For Noura Hussein,
— Knowledge Is Key (@zvynvbi) May 3, 2018
How you’re going to punish a 16 old to death for stabbing in self defense a man she was forced to get married to without consent and after several days of refusing to consummate the marriage,
"I Will Be Executed Before Fulfilling My Dreams" says Noura Hussein facing execution in Sudan #JusticeforNoura https://t.co/VSb2aXVlwN via @Kractivist
— OfficialFantaceeWiz (@iam_FantaceeWiz) May 10, 2018
"She's still in complete shock after her sentencing today," Dr Adil Mohamed Al-Imam, one of Hussein's lawyers, told CNN.
Al-Imam donated his services after Hussein's original lawyer withdrew from the case.
After she refused to consummate the marriage, her husband's relatives held her down while he raped her. "His brother and two cousins tried to reason with her, when she refused she was slapped and ordered into the room. One held her chest and head, the others held her legs," Al-Imam told CNN.
Noura, who was forced to marry at the age of 15, ran away and sought refuge with her aunt for three years. Her father tricked her into coming back and handed her over to her husband's family.