Muslim Sudanese Woman Face Death Sentence For Marrying Christian Man.

Twenty Seven years old Sudanese woman by name Meriam Yahya Ibrahim 26-year-old who is eight months pregnant for her second child, has been charged for deserting religion and adultery for marrying a christian man.

According to reports by Daily Mail, Meriam has been given a deadline of Thursday from Sunday, 11th of May to abandon her Christian faith and return to Islam, or face a death sentence, but she has refused to recant her christian faith.

Born to a Muslim father and Christian mother, Meriam is considered a Muslim by birth. Muslim women are prohibited from marrying non- Muslims, though it is allowed for the Muslim men to marry outside their faith. Therefore, her marriage to Daniel Wani, a non-Muslim, is considered illegal.

Meriam’s case first came to the attention of authorities in August last year, when her family members complained that she was born a Muslim but married a Christian man. Authorities charged her with ‘Zena’ an Arabic word for illegitimate sex with her husband, a christian from Southern Sudan and put on trial. According to Sudan’s Public Order Criminal Code, the penalty for committing crimes of adultery and apostasy is 100 lashes and a death sentence respectively. She was sentenced after that grace period expired.

She was first arrested and detained in February in a Khartoum jail (women’s prison) in Sudan without a fair trial with her pregnancy and 18-month-old son. Her husband, Wani who is a christian is not allowed to take care or possession of the child, due to this reason, the child has remained with his mum in prison.

The Final ruling is soon to be announced.