Meriam Ibrahim with newborn daughter, Maya
If a pending appeal in the case of the imprisoned Sudanese doctor, Meriam Ibrahim, is not successful, she will soon have to endure 100 lashes – which are designed to literally take skin off the body – as punishment for trumped up adultery charges.
Life News is reporting that Ibrahim, who was jailed after a half brother filed suit against her that led to criminal charges, gave birth two weeks ago to a baby girl named Maya. The newborn is the only reason why the death sentence handed down to Ibrahim by a sharia court will be postponed for two years until after the baby is weaned.
However, an additional sentence of 100 lashes could be enforced at any time depending on how the court rules on an appeal to the death sentence filed by her attorney. A response from the court is expected within the next week or two. If the court throws out the appeal, Ibrahim will have to endure a brutal public flogging that would leave her scarred – both mentally and physically – for the rest of her life.
Gabriel Wani, brother of Ibrahim’s husband, Daniel, explained what 100 lashes mean.
“A strong man with a whip doles out the punishment. Male prisoners are stripped before the whipping. Female prisoners start off with clothing, but the brutal lash soon tears them apart, leaving the woman bare-backed as the whip ‘takes skin’ off. After a hundred lashes some die, while others hover ‘in bad condition’ until they are executed.”
The sharia court’s case against Ibrahim is based on the fact that even though her mother was Christian and she was raised as a Christian, her father, who left the family when she was six years old, was a Muslim. All children born of a Muslim father are considered to be Muslim and if they should grow up to practice some other religion, they could be accused of apostasy, a crime punishable by death. When Ibrahim later married a Christian man, the marriage was not recognized by Islamic authorities, which is why she is also being charged with adultery.
Daniel Wani with Maya
International pressure appeared to have secured Ibrahim’s release two weeks ago, but the government did an abrupt turn-around and is no longer making any such promises.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim and her two children are languishing in a one-roomed cell in a Sudanese prison. Her 20 month old son, Martin, is said to have gone “from a cheerful little boy to a kid that can’t even smile” Wani told the Daily Mail.
Even though Ibrahim’s husband is a natualized U.S. citizen living in New Hampshire, which means their children are technically U.S. citizens, the U.S. State Department has thus far refused to recognize their citizenship.
The UK government may soon be stepping in, however. A member of the House of Lords, Lord Alton of Liverpool, has called upon the UK to grant asylum to Ibrahim.
Alton said that allowing Ibrahim to move to Britain would be an “unequivocal demonstration of the value of a civilized country and a humane society.”
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