A Sudanese woman has been flogged by police 75 times for marrying her lover without the permission of her father.
She was flogged on Tuesday at a police station in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum, after she was convicted by a court in the northern African country.
The woman had already spent six-months in prison as part of her sentence for the decision to marry. Her lover was sentenced to two years in prison.
The Sudanese court had found the woman guilty of marrying without her father’s consent as required by law in Sudan.
Her lawyer, Azza Mohamed Ahmed told AFP the woman “completed her six months in jail and today (Tuesday) she was flogged 75 times” as ordered by the court.
Ahmed’s client was put on trial after her father refused to approve of the marriage to a man of her own choice.
“She and the man then got married and lived together for a year,” Ahmed said. The couple have a two-month-old baby.
“Her family then filed a case against her, accusing her of living with a man illegitimately and of having sex outside of marriage,” Ahmed was quoted by the AFP as saying.
“Today her punishment is complete,” Ahmed said. The woman has now been released and would stay at her husband’s house.
The United Nations and other international rights groups have already called on Sudan’s president to revoke a death sentence handed down to another 19 year old girl for killing a man during rape.
The 19-year-old girl Noura Hussein was forced by her father at the age of 16 to marry the deceased who happens to be her cousin.
She had refused to accept the union and reportedly sought refuge with a relative for three years.
Source: Africafeeds.com
