SANA ' A , Yemen ( CNN ) -- It is midday and girls are flooding out of school , but Nujood Ali is not among them . Nujood Ali today is angry and skips school but is still relieved her defiance paid off . We find her at the family 's two-room house in an impoverished suburb of the city where Nujood is angry , combative and yelling . Tension surrounds the home like a noose . After much arguing with family members , Nujood finally grabs her veil and agrees to sit down with CNN . Her presence is grudging , although CNN had got permission in advance to see how the girl who rocked a nation by demanding a divorce was shaping up . Nujood is very different from the girl we first met nearly two years ago . Then , there was no doubt the 10-year-old was every inch a child . She was the very portrait of innocence : A shy smile , a playful nature and a whimsical giggle . That picture was very much at odds with the brutal story of abuse she endured as a child bride who fought for a divorce and is now still fighting . Watch Nujood tell her story to CNN on World 's Untold Stories » . Nujood says she remains relieved and gratified that her act of defiance -- which led to appearances at awards shows and on TV -- had paid off . The story was supposed to end with the divorce and an innocent but determined girl allowed to fully embrace the childhood she fought so hard to keep . Instead , there has been no fairytale ending for Nujood . There was , though , a stunning transformation . Nujood went from being a victim and child bride to a portrait of courage and triumph . Her inspirational story was told and re-told around the world , but at home all was not well . In the fall of 2008 Nujood was recognized as Glamour Magazine 's Woman of the Year , alongside some of the world 's most impressive women . She even attended the ceremony in New York and was applauded by women from Hillary Clinton to Nicole Kidman . There is a tell-all book which is to be published in more than 20 languages , and the author says Nujood will receive a good portion of the royalties . Nujood 's strength was celebrated by complete strangers . But what did all the fame do for the one person it was meant to transform ? `` There is no change at all since going on television . I hoped there was someone to help us , but we did n't find anyone to help us . It has n't changed a thing . They said they were going to help me and no one has helped me . I wish I had never spoken to the media , '' Nujood says bitterly . There was never going to be a fortune . Generous people have donated thousands so Nujood could go to a private school , but she refuses to attend , according to Shada Nasser , the human rights lawyer who took on the child 's divorce case . `` I know Nujood was absent from the school . I spoke with her father and her family . And I ask them to control her and ask her to go every day to school . But they said , 'You know we do n't have the money for the transportation . Do n't have the money for the food , ' `` says Nasser . She believes Nujood is being victimized by her own family because they believe Nujood 's fame should bring them fortune . Nujood 's parents say they 've received nothing , and in the meantime Nujood stews wondering out loud how everything turned out this way . `` I was happy I got divorced but I 'm sad about the way it turned out after I went on television , '' she said adding that she feels like an outcast even among her family and friends . Nujood was pulled out of school in early 2008 and married off by her own parents to a man she says was old and ugly . And yet , as a wife , Nujood was spared nothing . `` I did n't want to sleep with him but he forced me to , he hit me , insulted me '' said Nujood . She said being married and living as a wife at such a young age was sheer torture . Nujood described how she was beaten and raped and how , after just a few weeks of marriage , she turned to her family to try to escape the arrangement . But her parents told her they could not protect her , that she belonged to her husband now and had to accept her fate . CNN tried to obtain comment from Nujood 's husband and his family but they declined . Nujood 's parents , like many others in Yemen , struck a social bargain . More than half of all young Yemeni girls are married off before the age of 18 , many times to older men , some with more than one wife . It means the girls are no longer a financial or moral burden to their parents . But Nujood 's parents say they did not expect Nujood 's new husband to demand sex from his child bride . To escape , Nujood hailed a taxi -- for the first time in her life -- to get across town to the central courthouse where she sat on a bench and demanded to see a judge . After several hours , a judge finally went to see her . `` And he asked me , 'what do you want ' and I said ' I want a divorce ' and he said 'you 're married ? ' And I said 'yes . ' '' says Nujood . Nujood 's father and husband were arrested until the divorce hearing , and Nujood was put in the care of Nasser . Indeed , it seems the judge had heard enough of the abuse to agree with Nujood that she should get her divorce . But based on the principles of Shariah law , her husband was compensated , not prosecuted . Nujood was ordered to pay him more than $ 200 -- a huge amount in a country where the United Nations Development Programme says 15.7 percent of the population lives on less than $ 1 a day . Khadije Al Salame is working to help Nujood get her life back . Now a Yemeni diplomat , 30 years ago she too was a child bride . But when she left her husband , she did not have to endure the publicity that now haunts Nujood . She said : `` It 's good to talk about Nujood and to have her story come out , but the problem is it 's too much pressure on her . `` She does n't understand what 's going on . She 's a little girl and we have to understand as a media people that we should leave her alone now . If we really love Nujood then we should just let her go to school and continue with her life , because education is the most important thing for her . '' To get her divorce , Nujood showed a character and strength not easily expressed by women in Yemen , let alone a 10-year-old child bride . But she will need to muster all that strength and more if she 's to finally reclaim her life . Nujood told us she thought the divorce would be the end of her struggle and she 's still angry that it turned out to be just the beginning . CNN producer Schams Elwazer contributed to this report .
Child who got divorce in Yemen struggling to be a child again . Nujood Ali escaped her parents and husband to plead in court for a divorce . Her plight raised issue of child brides but has not given her a happy ending . Comment: