(CNN) A 19-year-old Sudanese woman has been sentenced to death for fatally stabbing the man she was forced to marry, who she says raped her as his relatives held her down. 
 
 The case of Noura Hussein has shone a spotlight on the issues of forced marriage and marital rape in Sudan, where the legal age of marriage is only 10 and marital rape is legal. 
 
 Hussein's supporters filled the courtroom in Omdurman, Sudan, and overflowed into the hall outside as the judge announced the death penalty on Thursday. Her husband's family refused an option to pardon her and rejected financial compensation, requesting that she be executed instead. 
 
 The court is full. People gathered to support Noura for her last trial. Thanks to our @AfrikaYM member @badreldins for keeping us updated. #JusticeForNoura @ENoMW @elizamackintosh pic.twitter.com/GEaaZD6ElE — Sodfa Daaji (@sodfadaaji) May 10, 2018 
 
 Hussein's legal team has 15 days to appeal. 
 
 "She's still in complete shock after her sentencing today," Dr. Adil Mohamed Al-Imam, one of Hussein's lawyers, told CNN. Al-Imam donated his services after Hussein's original lawyer withdrew from the case. He added that Hussein was abandoned not only by the law, but also by her family. 
 
 Read More ||||| Activists in last-ditch effort to save 19-year-old condemned to death for stabbing the man she was forced to marry as he assaulted her 
 
 Teenager who killed husband after he raped her is sentenced to death in Sudan 
 
 A 19-year-old Sudanese woman has been condemned to death by a court in Omdurman for stabbing to death the husband to whom she was forcibly married, who she says raped her with assistance of his family. 
 
 The death penalty for Noura Hussein was confirmed by a judge on Thursday after her husband’s family rejected the possibility of financial compensation and instead asked for her to be executed. 
 
 The case has attracted widespread attention on social media, where a campaign Justice for Noura has been trending on Twitter. 
 
 Her legal team now has 15 days to appeal the sentence. 
 
 After her initial sentence, Hussein told supporters: “It was a shocking moment when the judge convicted me with murder. I knew then that I [would] be executed, leaving my dreams unfulfilled.” 
 
 The case, which once again highlights the issue of forced marriage and marital rape in a number of countries, is striking for its shocking details. 
 
 Married by her family at 16, Noura fled to take refuge at an aunt’s house for three years before she was tricked into returning home by her own family, who then handed her over to her husband’s family. 
 
 According to her supporters – including the activist group Equality Now, which is backing a petition organised on her behalf – Hussein had been with her husband for six days when he raped her with the assistance of his brother, a relative, and a witness, who held her down. 
 
 When I left the court the rapist’s family were clapping with joy and had smug looks on their faces – I was disgusted Trial witness 
 
 “She would not have sex with the man,” Sarah ElHasan, an activist supporting Hussein’s case, told al-Jazeera. “He recruited some of his cousins and brought them [to his] home where they held her down while her husband raped her.” 
 
 When he attempted to rape her again the following day, she stabbed her husband to death before going to her own parents, who handed her over to police. 
 
 Muawya Khidir, a member of Hussein’s defence team, told local media that the death penalty was not appropriate since Hussein was defending herself at the time of the killing and was mentally and psychologically disturbed as a result of rape. 
 
 One supporter, who attended the hearing, posted details on Twitter: “They allowed us to enter the courtroom and I got to sit in the front with a colleague of mine. We waited at least 20 minutes until the judge came and [asked] Noura to enter. Noura was alone [and] no one from her family came with her. 
 
 “There was a good amount of supporters that were on her side. They reintroduced the case and so the judge eventually asked the rapist’s family what they want to happen. The judge also did mention that they should forgive her. But the family chose execution. 
 
 “When I left the court house the rapist’s family were clapping with joy and had smug looks on their faces – I was disgusted.” 
 
 Following confirmation of the sentence on Thursday, Equality Now, which has taken up Noura’s case, said it would be writing to the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, to ask for clemency. 
 
 “We are also calling on people around the world to sign the change.org petition in support of Noura,” said Tara Carey of Equality Now. 
 
 “Noura is not a criminal, she is a victim – and should be treated as such. In other countries, victims of rape and domestic violence like Noura would be provided services to ensure that they overcome the trauma of their experiences. 
 
 “Criminalisation of Noura for defending herself from assault and, in particular, a death sentence, would violate her rights under the Sudanese constitution and international law. 
 
 “Noura has been subjected to both physical and mental abuse by her family and husband, and this is a violation of Articles 14 (protection of children) and 15 (no marriage without free and full consent) of the constitution. 
 
 
 
 “The constitution further provides that the ‘state shall protect women from injustice and promote gender equality’, and that ‘all persons are equal before the law and are entitled, without discrimination, to the equal protection of the law.’” 
 

– Forced marriage and marital rape are under the spotlight once again, this time emerging from a case in Sudan. There, 19-year-old Noura Hussein was sentenced to death Thursday for the stabbing death of her husband, whom she says she was made to marry and who then raped her with the help of his family. The Guardian reports Hussein was married off at the age of 15 or 16 (a Change.org petition says that's merely when she was told she had to go through with the marriage), but she fled and holed up with an aunt for three years—until she was fooled into a visit to the home of her own family, who promptly returned her to the man she was made to marry. After less than a week with him, she says, his brother and two others held her down while he raped her, and the next day when he tried it again, she stabbed him and fled to her parents, who brought her to the cops. CNN notes the legal age of marriage in Sudan is 10, and that marital rape isn't against the law. Under Sharia, the husband's family could choose a pardon, financial compensation, or death for Hussein, per the Washington Post; they chose death. "When I left the court house the rapist's family were clapping with joy and had smug looks on their faces," a supporter who of Hussein's posted on Twitter. Hussein has plenty of people backing her up, and her cause has found its way online with a #JusticeForNoura hashtag and via the Change.org petition, which calls her actions self-defense. "It was a shocking moment" hearing she'd be put to death, Hussein told supporters. "I knew then that I [would] be executed, leaving my dreams unfulfilled." Her legal team has 15 days to file an appeal. (Marital rape isn't viewed the same as "normal" rape in many US states.)