Meriam Ibrahim Was Forced to Give Birth to Baby Maya While in Chains

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   May 29, 2014   |   10:45AM   |   Washington, DC

The first pictures have emerged today of Meriam Ibrahim’s newborn baby named Maya. The pregnant Christian woman gave birth in chains while in a Sudanese prison because of her Christian faith.

Ibrahim’s legs were chained as she gave birth in Sudanese jail and the 27-year-old gave birth as she was shackled to the floor. Her husband was initially refused entry to jail but was eventually allowed in with lawyer.

The Christian Post was one of the news outlets to feature of a picture of the baby today and details on how she was in chains during the birth:

meriam3Meriam Ibrahim’s U.S. citizen husband Daniel Wani told The Telegraph in a recent interview that he was angry at the treatment his wife received while she was in labor at the Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison in North Khartoum, Sudan.

“They kept a chain on her legs. She is very unhappy about that,” said Wani.

After the birth of the Christian couple’s beautiful daughter, who they named Maya on Tuesday morning, Wani said local authorities initially refuse to allow him to see his daughter according to the Daily Mail but they eventually allowed him in the prison and momentarily released his wife from her chains so they could have a moment with the child together.

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The moment, however, is a bittersweet one for the parents, particularly Meriam who will not be able to watch her child grow up if the death sentenced meted out to her for believing in Jesus is carried out. The local courts have given her a two-year grace period to wean baby Maya before she is lashed 100 times then executed for her apostasy.

Meriam has been given the opportunity to stay alive through renouncing Christ and becoming a Muslim by an Islamic Sharia Judge but she has defiantly rejected the offer choosing to die instead.

The London Daily Mail also provided more details:

meriam2Her lawyer Mohaned Mustafa Elnour said the couple are ‘happy and proud’ of their new arrival and that it has brought a momentary ray of light to an otherwise bleak and desperate situation.

Mr Elnour: ‘This is a special moment for them. Daniel is delighted that he is able to see his new daughter so soon.

‘The family are taking some time to enjoy the birth before they return to fighting the injustice of Meriam’s sentence.’

Daniel, a 27-year-old biochemist who lives in Manchester, New Hampshire, also got the chance to hold his 20-month-old son Martin, who is being held in the barbaric prison with his mother.

The photo is especially poignant as Meriam will never see her beautiful daughter grow up. She is set to hang sometime in the next two years as the authorities said she will be executed when she has finished weaning Maya.

And before the birth, Meriam made the defiant claim that she would rather die than give up her faith.

In a heart-wrenching conversation with her husband during a rare prison visit, Meriam told him: ‘If they want to execute me then they should go ahead and do it because I’m not going to change my faith.’

In an email to LifeNews, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins commented on the situation.

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“Meriam Ibrahim may not be a United States citizen, but she seems to know more about courage than the administration leading them. Three times, the Sudanese mother of two was asked to deny her faith — and three times she refused. Now, she and her toddler American son and newborn American daughter lie in a bug-infested prison cell — a victim of the real war on women this President refuses to acknowledge,” Perkins said.

He continued: “While U.S. liberals fight for “women’s health care,” their leader is letting a 27-year-old mother give birth to a premature baby girl in a dirty overcrowded jail without medical attention. If that’s “championing women’s rights,” then the international community should consider itself warned. The same politicians who promised not to “close their eyes” on women’s needs are obviously too busy fighting for free birth control and universal abortion to hear the cries of a two-day old baby girl, whose Christian mother is just months away from being flogged and hanged.”

“It’s time for President Obama to stop hiding behind proclamations and press statements and do something,” he concluded.