Some Christians in Sudan have accused the pair of adultery since they have chosen to remain together.
Due to their decision to remain a married pair, a Sudanese couple has been accused of adultery and apostasy.
However, the latter accusation is still being brought even though the alleged conduct is not a crime under Sudanese law.
The penalty for adultery in this culture is severe: one year in internal exile and 100 lashes each.
According to John Samuel, Open Doors’ legal specialist for sub-Saharan Africa, Nada Hamad Koko and her husband, Hamouda Teya Kaffi, were scheduled to appear at Al-Baqir Court, Gezira state, on 15 September for a hearing on charges of adultery when they learnt of a second criminal complaint.
When the couple tied the knot in 2016, they both identified as Muslims. Nada’s family pressured her into having their marriage canceled by a Sharia court when her husband Hamouda converted to Christianity two years after their wedding.
A Muslim lady in Sudan faces the death sentence if she marries a non-Muslim man.
Nada and her two children went back to live with her parents when the marriage separated, citing intense pressure from the public as the reason.
After the decriminalization of apostasy in 2020, the couple reconciled the following year, and Nada publicly declared her conversion to Christianity.
Since the Sharia court had already proclaimed them divorced and the prosecutor saw Nada’s conversion as invalid, Nada’s family denounced them to the police, and they were detained on accusations of adultery.
According to John Samuel, “the psychological strain on Nada and Hamouda is considerable.”
Christians in Sudan who come from Muslim backgrounds still endure social and legal discrimination, as seen here.
As the article states, “Judges launch cases to frighten and pressure converts to return to Islam, and even if charges are dismissed, the accused become clearly identified within their community and are exposed to increased intimidation and risk.”
A court in Darfur dropped an apostasy lawsuit last month because abandoning Islam is no longer a crime in Sudan.
Christians in Sudan have been increasingly worried in recent months that Islamists are regaining control of the nation. For decades, Christians have been targeted for persecution.
During the presidency of al-Bashir, Christians were often targeted for persecution by religious police and armed Islamic militias. After 30 years of military dictatorship, 2019 saw the beginning of a transition to civilian administration, and there were encouraging indicators for the almost 2 million Christians (4.4% of the population) in the nation.
Some of the progress, however, seems to have been undone after a coup in October of 2021. Since then, members of the National Congress Party and al-Bashir loyalists have begun to ascend to senior ranks within the Sudanese military.
A rigorous interpretation of Sharia law had been imposed and institutionalized by the NCP when al-Bashir was in charge.
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