So here's the story (read):
A 16-year old school girl was on her way to High School when she was raped by 20-year old Enamul Mia.
The girl was too ashamed and too afraid to lodge a police report against the rapist. By the time the family discovered the rape, she was already pregnant. In a desperate bid at damage control, the family managed to marry her off to a man in the neighboring village. But a month after the marriage, the husband became suspicious at her rapidly ballooning belly. A medical examination quickly established the fact that she was 7 months pregnant!
So the outraged husband promptly divorced her. With no place to go, she returned to her father’s place. She then underwent an abortion. But now the whole saga had become public knowledge.
On January 17 this year, about 8 months after the rape, an influencial group of matabars (village elders) led by Manik Mia decided to form a so-called arbitration meeting at the father’s place. The arbitration council included 2 Imams from neighboring mosques.
The press report stated that at one stage of the inhuman torture, the girl collapsed and fainted. She regained her sense after two hours.
In any event, the village arbitration council found the girl guilty of illicit sex resulting in pregnancy (ignoring that it is from a rape) and issued a fatwa (religious edict) for her to be given 101 lashes of the cane. Village leader Delwar Hossain alias Ullashi executed the durra (lashes) on the same day, January 17.
Furthermore, the arbitration council also fined the victim’s father Tk 1,000 (£10) and issued another fatwa that her family would be forced into isolation and branded an outcast if he failed to pay up. The father said that the family is being watched to prevent them from seeking legal advice.
The rapist Enamul Mia is left untouched and unharmed.
I think I lost the will to comment further at this point. To be continued, God willing.
Sub7aan Allaah, that's mad! Allaahul musta3aan, That girl must have gone through enough distress already without being accused for fornication.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing is, that I assume the family didn't openly admit she was raped for fear of "shame on the family" -which is not uncommon. Many people are so culturally obsessed that they would rather blame the victim of rape rather than the rapist.
And the village elders, may Allaah Guide them for their ignorance. I'm grateful to Allaah that I didn't have to live through backwards societies and communities like this, al 7amdulillaah.
The rape victim not reporting it or disclosing it is evident even in Western countries, due to fear, shame, embarrassment, etc. In countries like Bangladesh, being raped is like turning into a dead meat. And I am not exaggerating a bit. Even with the rapist being punished, does anybody care what the girl's life is now? Nobody marries her or even goes near her. She's a dead meat to the society!
ReplyDeleteMay Allaah blacken the face of the oppressors and transfer their good deeds to the scale of the one being oppressed on the Day of Reckoning.