#JusticeForNoura campaign aims to save life of Sudanese teen convicted of killing rapist husband

Noura Hussein was just 16 when her father forced her to marry her cousin in 2014.

She, however, fled from their home before the marriage was completed. But her father tricked her into coming back home three years later and sent her to her husband.

She kept refusing her husband’s attempt to have sex with her and after six days, he got his cousins to hold her down as he raped her.

“She would not have sex with the man. He recruited some of his cousins and brought them [to his] home where they held her down while her husband raped her,” Sarah ElHasan, a rights activist, told Al Jazeera.

The next time he tried to rape her, she stabbed him to death and went back to her family.

The family handed her over to the police.

Noura, now 19 years old, has been sentenced to death by a court in Omdurman, Sudan’s second biggest city. She had been in the Omdurman prison for a year.

The judgment has raised concerns over the justice system in Sudan, especially when it comes to marital rape. Sudan is one of the many African countries where marital rape is not considered a crime.  It even has a clause in its Family Law that prohibits a woman from refusing sex with her husband.

An online petition has been filed in an attempt to reverse the court’s punishment. It has more than 74,500 signatures.

On social media, the campaign to create awareness of Noura’s case and push for the reversal of the judgment is ongoing with the #justiceforNoura.

Noura’s lawyers have 15 days to appeal against the death penalty charge.