When I woke up this morning, I got to read this really strange news on NY Times website. The news were about Hena (or Hina), a 14 year old girl in Bangladesh, who was allegedly raped by a man of her village. The incident happened when Hena went to an outdoor toilet. The man, who is said to be her cousin, ambushed Hena, beat her up and then raped her. The wife of alleged rapist saw them both in this situation, and guess what? She also beat Hena. Strange? Hold on, read further.
The case went to a local mosque's Imam who issued a "Fatwah" against Hena stating that she was guilty of "adultery" and must be punished. Then a village makeshift court sentenced Hena to 100 lashes in a public whipping. Hena collapsed after 70 lashes and was taken to a hospital. She died a week later, because of internal bleeding and a general loss of blood. The doctors recorded her death as a "suicide"! Strange? It really is.
In an interview, the parents of Hena said that they had no choice other than to follow the Imam’s order. They had to watch their daughter being whipped until she fell unconscious to the ground.
After words spread about this incident, a court ordered investigation. An examination revealed severe injuries on the victim's body. Investigation is going on currently against the Imam, the doctor who turned killing into a suicide, and other people, including the alleged rapist. Hena’s family is under police protection fearing the other villagers will take revenge for getting the Imam and others in trouble.
If you are aware of the situation in many Islamic countries, such incidents are normal. Killing in name of Shariah law is usual there. My personal views are not against the Shariah law, but I'm against the methods of implementations of such law sometimes. You punish people in manner other that the other countries (and you are free to do so, I'm not one of those NGOs who are from the countries who kill thousand of people in wars and will tell you not to kill people) but you should atleast investigate the matter properly. Maybe allegations are wrong and one's life can be saved. Isn't that good for the society? I know the greatness of Shariah law which obviously tries to lessen the crime in the society, as other countries' laws do. The method of delivering justice may be different, but the intentions are same.
When we living in other, developed countries, read about such incidents, we are shocked to see the way justice is delivered. We are like WTF? But each country has their own law. And they are free to deliver justice the way they think is proper. And sometimes its not the country's law's judgement, but the judgement of the mob, the public. If I talk about India, there are many cases of mob-justice around us. A young boy is suspected to steal some stuff and the mod nabs him, cuts his hair, blackens his face, and then beats him up to death. Some women are considered to be witch and are dragged nude around the village and are set ablaze. A girl is abused for not completing the demand of dowry and is tortured the way that she has to commit suicide, or is killed by her in law-parents. There are many examples.
Ofcourse we don't know what has exactly happened in Hena's case. But if the news of punishing her because "she was raped", then it's awful. You can't expect a 14 year girl to have enough understanding to know what is wrong and what is right. Let's hope that the justice is delivered in the case.
Later.
