nujood ali was nine when her parents arranged a marriage to faez ali thamer, a man in his thirties. regularly beaten by her in-laws and raped by her husband, ali escaped on april 2, 2008, two months after the wedding. on the advice of her father's second wife, she went directly to court to seek a divorce. after waiting for half a day, she was noticed by a judge, mohammed al-għadha, who took it upon himself to give her temporary refuge, and had both her father and husband taken into custody.