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| Baby’s Bittersweet First Day: Now Mom Can Be Hanged for Marrying Christian (ABC News) |
By ABC NEWS | Good Morning America, May 30, 2014
The baby girl born to a woman sentenced to hang in Sudan for marrying a Christian American citizen met her father for the first time — a moment that was captured in a bittersweet photo.
Daniel Wani, an American citizen who lives in New Hampshire, held his daughter, Maya, in his arms as she rested peacefully days after being born at a Sudanese prison.
The moment of joy was tempered by sorrow as Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag, the Sudanese woman facing flogging and a death sentence for marrying Wani, gave birth to baby Maya earlier this week.
Sudan’s Islamic court considered Ishag a Muslim and did not recognize her marriage to Wani, a Christian. That constituted a crime of adultery and she was sentenced to receive 100 lashes.
The court also found her guilty of apostasy by converting to Christianity and sentenced her to be hanged.
The flogging and the death penalty were to be delayed until after she gave birth.
The couple also has a 2-year-old son named Martin and reports state that the boy had been living with his mother in the prison.
Ishag is considered Muslim by Sudan’s courts because her father was Muslim, though she raised by her Christian mother.
Wani and his brother, Gabriel Wani, grew up in Sudan but moved to New Hampshire. He returned to Sudan last week after his wife was condemned to be hanged.
She is reportedly slated to remain in jail for two years to nurse the child before she is to be flogged and hanged.
The court’s sentence has prompted statements of concern from Western governments and human rights groups.
Her lawyers continue to appeal and petition for clemency.
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