Sudanese Woman Condemned to Hang Reportedly Flies to Italy
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iStock/Thinkstock(ROME) — A woman sentenced to death for marrying a Christian has flown to Italy, according to a report from the BBC.
Meriem Ibrahim, 27, was sentenced to be flogged and hanged to death in Sudan for marrying a Christian and converting from the Muslim faith to Christianity. Ibrahim’s story drew outrage from people across the globe as her story went viral on social media under the “#savemeriam” hashtag and world leaders condemned the harsh sentence.
Ibrahim, who was raised by her Christian mother, was eight months pregnant at the time of her sentence and has since given birth.
Ibrahim and her family flew on an Italian government plane, accompanied by Italian minister Lapo Pistelli, the BBC reports. Pistelli posted a photo to Facebook showing the group with the caption, “With Miriam, Maya, Martin and Daniel, in a few minutes of Rome. Mission accomplished.”
Pope Francis reportedly met with Ibrahim and her family for about 30 minutes in his private residence at the Vatican. The pope thanked Ibrahim for “her steadfast witness of faith,” a Vatican spokesman said, according to the Catholic News Service.
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