{UAH} Sudan overturns death sentence for teen who killed rapist husband

Afuwa Kasule/ Mayimuna,

 

Today is a red letter day. All the work we do, or that I do, may seem to some people like the rantings of a busy body and a fool. But there is a cold purpose. Once in a while we save lives. What more can I say?

 

Overjoyed? No. I am very angry that  Noura Hussein  had to be put through this brutal life-denying experience. But at the same time, I am comforted by the fact that  our efforts have not been in vain. We have held Noura's hands in her hour of need. We have saved her life. That's the greatest gift any human being could give to another.

 

Noura Hussein's case is vindication of all the effort and pain I put into these campaigns. And her salvation is the reason I will never give up doing what I do- trying to help those who have no one else to help them. I will never stop until my last breathe- because the rewards are so huge- as I am feeling now.

 

Bobby

Sudan overturns death sentence for teen who killed rapist husband

About This Article

EDITION.CNN.COM

Sudan overturns death sentence for teen who killed rapist husband

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  L.S. Guduza shared a post.

By Nima Elbagir and Angela Dewan, CNN

A Sudanese court has commuted the death sentence for teenager Noura Hussein, who killed her husband after he raped her, in a case that has put a spotlight on forced child marriage and marital rape in the African nation.

Her legal team told CNN on Tuesday that Hussein, now 19, has been given a five-year jail term for killing the 35-year-old man. The court ordered her family to pay 337,000 Sudanese pounds ($18,700) in "blood money" to the man's family.

Her lawyers say they plan to appeal both the jail term and the payment.

Last week, CNN obtained a first-hand account from the teenager as she awaited retrial in an Omdurman prison cell after appealing her death sentence.

An illustration used in the Change.org campaign for Noura Hussein.

In her account, Hussein said her family had forced her to get married at 15, but allowed her to finish school. Three years later, after a public wedding, her husband tried to consummate the marriage. After refusing to have sex with him on their "honeymoon," she says he raped her as members of his family held her down.

A day later her husband tried to rape her again, and she stabbed him to death. When she went to her parents for support, they turned her over to the police.

In her account, Hussein shared her experience of being forced to live with the man, and how she refused to eat or leave her room in her first days with him.

Related: The 11-year-old girl divorcing her 38-year-old husband

Noura in her own words: Teen who killed rapist husband shares her story

"On the ninth day his relatives came, his uncle told me to go to the bedroom. I said no so he dragged me by my arm into the bedroom and his cousin slapped me. All of them tore at my clothing. His uncle held me down by my legs and each of the other two held down my arms. He stripped and had me while I wept and screamed. Finally, they left the room. I was bleeding, I slept naked," she said.

"The next day he grabbed me, threw me on the bed and tried to climb on top of me. I was fighting back and my hand found a knife under the pillow. We began grappling over the knife. He cut my hand and bit down on my shoulder."

Read more: In Sudan, the #JusticeForNoura campaign gave a voice to the voiceless

The court made its decision after accepting Hussein's version of events. Key to their decision was accepting that she had found a knife under her pillow before stabbing her husband, and did not take it from the kitchen, as prosecutors originally alleged.

The case has sparked international outrage and several petitions worldwide had called for her sentence to be dropped.

The legal age to enter into marriage in Sudan is 10 and marital rape is not a crime.

The As Equals reporting project is funded by the European Journalism Centre via its Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme. Click here for more stories like this.

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