Sudan scraps marital rape teen wife's death term

A Sudan court Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a teenager for killing her husband who she said had raped her, instead imposing a five-year jail term, her lawyer said.

A lower court had sentenced Noura Hussein to death for the "intentional murder" of her husband, whom she said raped her after being forced to marry him at the age of 16 by her father.

The death sentence triggered international outrage from the United Nations and global rights groups, and her lawyer filed an appeal against the lower court's ruling.

"The appeals court has cancelled her execution and sentenced her to five years in jail," Hussein's lawyer Al-Fateh Hussein told AFP.

Was arrested

"The jail term is effective from the time she was arrested," he said, adding that his client had also been fined 337,500 Sudanese pounds ($12,000).