NOOR SURIB

Yemen- Marwa Al-Baiti, a mother of two, was set on fire by her husband Muhammad Al-Jafri in the Mukalla city of Yemen’s Hadhramaut Governorate on December 24, 2020. She was kept in the house for five days with severe burns. After she reported the incident to her family, her family took her to a hospital.

Marwa died at the Al Rayyan hospital due to severe burns that covered 80% of her body. The perpetrator Muhammad Al-Jafri was sent to court and arrested. The incident sparked anger across the country and the most talked about issue in the country between 2020 and 2021 was domestic violence. All activists, politicians, women’s rights defenders, and many more condemned the murder of Marwa Al-Baiti.

The final hearing of the murder trial of Marwa Al-Baiti was held by the West Mukalla Court of First Instance. Muhammad Al-Jafri has been sentenced to death for murdering Marwa Al-Baiti. Safaa Murad, a human rights defender, is one of the women who participated in campaigns launched to demand just punishment. Stating that she was shocked when she first heard the incident, Safaa Murad said, “I heard the verdict against him today and I am satisfied that the criminal will receive his just punishment. This verdict is what we expected. Dozens of cases in which women were victims were ignored. I hope this case will be the beginning of a legal awakening to punish anyone who commits crimes against women.”

Violence against women increases

Journalist Abeer Wakid is one of the Yemeni women combating gender-based violence. Speaking about the murder trial of Marwa Al-Baiti, Abeer Wakid said, “Parents take the complaints of their daughters seriously now.”

It is worth noting that Yemen is one of the countries where women suffer from increasing violence due to the ongoing war. Violence against women has increased by about 63% since the start of the war in 2015, according to the reports.