On Monday, an “anti-terrorism” court in Lahore ordered that two men have their ears and noses cut off as punishment for doing the same to a woman who refused to marry one of them. According to Reuters, “The two brothers, Sher Mohammad and Amanat Ali, abducted their 22-year-old cousin, Fazeelat Bibi, at gunpoint in September after her father refused to let her marry Mohammad.” Government prosecutor Ehtesham Qadir told the news agency, “They put a noose around her neck and tried to strangle her. After failing to do so, Sher Mohammad chopped of her nose and two ears with a knife.” According to Punjab province chief prosecutor Chaudary Mohammed Jahangir, they mutilated her to “set an example.”
Fazeelat Bibi’s horrific and chilling story is tragically one of many honor crimes committed in Pakistan. In Honor: A History, author James Bowman cited NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who said, “On average, a woman is raped every two hours in Pakistan, and two women a day die in honor killings.” In an epidemiological study released in April 2009, the European Journal of Public Health found that one in every five homicides in Pakistan can be classified as an “honor killing,” the majority occurring “in response to alleged extramarital relations.”
The sentencing by Lahore’s anti-terror court [although honor crimes don't really fall under "anti-terror" parameters, the Guardian noted, "Serious crimes are often referred to anti-terrorism courts in Pakistan because they move faster" and CNN said the crimes "created tyranny in the district"], is significant because it enacts an “eye-for-an-eye” form of justice, part of Islamic law [Shari'a] but also dating as far back as Hammurabi’s Code. For a woman who had her ears and nose cut off in the name of honor, such punishment, [which also includes the two men being sentenced to 50 years in prison and ordered to pay fines and compensation to the woman amounting to several thousand dollars] is some form of retribution for her suffering.
Such a story is interesting because it raises several issues for debate. First, are punishments within the realms and nuances of an honor society something we should condemn or champion? While human rights groups promoting both women’s rights and universal human rights may find this development a bitter pill to swallow, exacting justice in this manner could be a way of challenging the status quo from within. As such, should we see such a sentence, if carried out, as progress or too excessive? Second, given that this sentence needs to be certified by a High Court, and such courts have suspended similar sentences in the past, why do such discrepancies occur and is this something that should be further investigated?
Definitely some food for thought.
Honestly, I’m ambivalent on the issue.
Part of me is inclined to think those men got what they deserve and sure, this may send out a message but there’s also the fact that this ruling won’t change anything. Also, like the title goes, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
Yes, ‘justice’ was handed out to those men but did it change their mindset or are they still misogynists? Probably the latter.
The patriarchy infecting Pakistan needs to be combated and as long as Pakistani courts continue to accept ‘extreme provocation’ as a valid defense in honor-killings, I don’t see that happening.
Rambling aside, I wonder what will happen next and also whether Fazeelat Bibi will actually get the money…
Only the ones with one eye to begin with will be left alive…
I think there are two key issue –
a) Women’s Literacy – The low rates of women’s literacy make it difficult for a woman to tackle and deal with issues related to violence (domestic and otherwise). This issue needs to be addressed across south asia with a vengeance. It may not solve the problem but will contribute substantially to a solution.
b) Conviction Rates – Conviction rates on crimes against women are very low and are typically well below 10% (India). We need fast track courts that are able to deliver verdicts that are just and do not make a woman into a victim all over again. A drastic improvement in conviction rates should help in reducing crimes against women.
AB
Here are the statistics of rapes broken down by country in terms of rapes per capita. Pakistan is not even in the top 65 countries – that’s VERY impressive. In fact, on a worldwide average, Pakistan seems sets a shining example for treatment of women. Please take a look at the facts:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_percap-crime-rapes-per-capita
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics
Shining Pakistan is not in the top 65 because Pakistan did not report any data.
[...] at CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan criticizes a recent verdict at a Lahore court which ordered that two men will have their ears and noses cut [...]
HGW,
I don’t these these statistics in the website say much about sexual violence in Muslim countries, where is it well known that sexual crimes go well under-reported due to cultural taboos and lack of insitutional prowess to address such issues.
It is no surprise that Muslim countries are either non- existant from these lists or rank near the bottom.
[...] their 22-year-old cousin, Fazeelat Bibi, at gunpoint in September […] Read more at: CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan amanat ali, author james, chief prosecutor, cnn, epidemiological study, european journal of [...]
HGW,
The UN statistics clearly state that the list is comprised of reported cases of rape. I am pretty sure that Jamila who lives in Hajji Shah is not going to the police happily to report the case if it was to happen to her when she has no witnesses and her father has threatened to kill her if she does so as it will bring shame to the family. Refrain from using BS statistics to back up even bigger BS statements.
Especially considering that many women who have reported rape are severely at a disadvantage since they have to provide “four male eyewitnesses.” As a result, many women who have reported rape are often thrown in jail for zina (adultery). You rarely see a man thrown in jail for rape.
I agree with you that many aspects of Islam are fundamentally immoral, Kalsoom.
I didn’t mean that many aspects of Islam are fundamentally immoral, I meant the selective application and interpretation of Sharia through a patriarchal lens often mean that women get the short end of the stick.
“Especially considering that many women who have reported rape are severely at a disadvantage since they have to provide “four male eyewitnesses.”
Does this rule really apply to charge a rape victim in Pakistan? Seriously!?
I will come to Pakistan and kidnap a woman and rape her when no male eyewitnesses are around! What a loop hole!
So how many cases of rape go unreported in Pakistan? Please show some facts backing up your statements. Otherwise, simply having a strong inner conviction of something does nothing to confirm or deny the claim. Nobody would argue if I presented negative facts, for example.
My #1 issue with your statemet is that you say pakistan seemingly sets a shining exmple on womens right. It leads me to believe that me that you are a man and you aren’t from Pakistan. This question about reporting rape vs not. I think you missed the fact that rape is adultery unless you can provide 4 male witnesses. If the man claims that the act was consensual sex, there is very little that the woman can do to refute this. Islam places the burden of avoiding sexual encounters of any sort on the woman. So if I was a woman raped and couldn’t produce 4 witnesses I wouldn’t come forward either at the risk of not wanting to be stoned to death.
I ask you to open your eyes and look around you and realize that you are posting comments on a blog where social and civil rights are in question. Morality of Islam is not up for debate. Your opinion is going to vary vastly than mine on religion but the basic civil rights of any human are hard to argue any way other than the black and white manner in which they are being discussed here.
Just as you were lead to believe I am not from Pakistan (which is incorrect), your statements are nothing more than emotional beliefs. They’re not facts.
Impressive! I hear that the HRC is looking for people to help out. I would suggest that you go volunteer so that you can judge for yourself the difference between fact and fiction. Trust me I tried, I spent the entire day looking for some link to a wikiPedia page to send back to you but I suppose when HRC and UN published their articles on women rights in regards to rape they didn’t make the note big enough for you to read that states “these statistics are based only on people that report rape”
I also assume you are a man and I know for a fact that I am right about that because you wouldn’t have any idea what rape and being a woman is about.
That being said, yes I would continue to insult you if I had more time, you are right, this is a topic that renders emotion period. It’s not easy to discuss and it’s not easy to pull stats out of nothing. 95000 women reported being raped in 2008 in the US. That number is one of the highest numbers reported in any forum or any country that has logged such statistics. You cannot compare that to Pakistan. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. It’s not the same thing. This forum is called changing up Pakistan right?it’s our job to do so. Everyone has their own way of contributing to that because we want a better place for our children to grow up and live in, we want to have Pakistan be the country that it has the potential to be, it’s got fantastic statistics in world economics as a matter of fact, it has the ability to sustain itself, but in order to curb some of the negativity that does exist the first and foremost thing to do is to open ones eyes and see the reality that surrounds us, this is part of the reality and though emotional it is actually real. And it’s my duty as a pakistani woman to point that out to you.
You’re ignorance is doing no one any good other, not even for the sake of an argument on an anonymous blog.
I wonder how this punishment would actullay be carried out.
Two big @ss Sultan Rahi look-alike police dudes hold the perp and a 3rd bad @ss Mustafa Quraishi looking police takes a semi-sharp knife and chops off the perp’s ears and nose ? (this is probably exactly how they did to her, after all)
Or perhaps the courts and people of Pak will capitulate to the limp-wristed pinko commie bleeding heart liberal do-gooder mentality and order that some sort of anaesthesia be used before this “surgical” procedure is performed on these honorable Pakistani (speci)men.
Any other suggestions/ideas ?
“And those who accuse chaste women [of adultery] and then do not produce four witnesses — lash them with eighty lashes and do not accept from them testimony ever after. And those are the defiantly disobedient. Except for those who repent thereafter and reform, for indeed Allaah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
That’s from the Qur’an.. what’s to be interpreted? Is fundamentally moral to anyone? How else can it be interpreted?
These fundamental and moral verses of Quran are interpreted, in the land of the pure, like this:
“Safia Bibi was a 13-year-old blind girl who was raped by her employer and his son. She didn’t report the crime. Because she showed clear signs of pregnancy and was unmarried, it was assumed she had premarital sex. Her failure to prove that she was raped prompted the judge to sentence her (under the Hudood ordinance) to three years of imprisonment and 15 lashes. The ruling cast her as the perpetrator instead of the victim. Her rapists were never prosecuted and did not spend any time in jail.
In cases such as these, if a married victim is unable to provide four male witnesses to the rape, her pregnancy serves as absolute proof against her and the harshest punishment of zina may be levied.”
http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/3448/
It’s a shame that the exact opposite of what these verses are trying to uphold–ie the honor, chastity, and good name of a woman from unjust allegations–apply.
So yes, Kalsoom’s analysis is right on, it is the ”selective application and interpretation of Sharia through a patriarchal lens” and, may I add, a grossly flawed and historically fabricated interpretation as well.
The courts should have ordered to surgically remove the male organs for these two misfits! That would send a clear message!
yes, but why surgically ? did they cut off her ears and nose surgically ?
Justice served is the most humane attribute of a just society. There is no point to discuss, human rights for those who had committed a henioud crime against that girl. They need to be punished, an eye for an eye,surely !
As you mentioned Hammurabi codes, here is a list of such codes created by the Babylonian king, Hammurabi, in 1790 BC. Let see how many more decisions are based on these Hammurabi codes in present day Pakistan and other developing countries.
Examples of Code of Hammurabi currently under display at Louvre Museum in Paris:
* If a man kills another man’s son his son shall be cut off.
* If anyone ensnares another, putting a ban upon him, but he can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death.
* If anyone brings an accusation against a man, and the accused goes to the river and leaps into the river, if he sinks in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river proves that the accused is not guilty, and he escapes unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.
* If anyone brings an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if a capital offense is charged, be put to death.
* If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then the builder shall be put to death.(Another variant of this is, If the owner’s son dies, then the builder’s son shall be put to death.)
* If a son slaps his father, his hand shall be cut off.
* If a man give his child to a nurse and the child dies in her hands, but the nurse unbeknown to the father and mother nurses another child, then they shall convict her of having nursed another child without the knowledge of the father and mother and her breasts shall be cut off.
* If anyone steals the minor son of another, he shall be put to death.
* If a man takes a woman to wife, but has no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him.
* If a man strikes a pregnant woman, thereby causing her to miscarry and die, the assailant’s daughter shall be put to death.
* If a man puts out the eye of an equal, his eye shall be put out.
* If a man knocks the teeth out of another man, his own teeth will be knocked out.
* If anyone strikes the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.
* If a freeborn man strikes the body of another freeborn man of equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina [an amount of money].
* If the slave of a freed man strikes the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off.
* If anyone commits a robbery and is caught, he shall be put to death.
* If anyone opens his ditches to water his crop, but is careless, and the water floods his neighbor’s field, he shall pay his neighbor corn for his loss.
* If a judge tries a case, reaches a decision, and presents his judgment in writing; and later it is discovered that his decision was in error, and it was his own fault, he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case and be removed from the judge’s bench.
Courtesy of Wikipedia
Eye for an eye won’t leave the whole world blind, but it’ll rather stop many of those violence loving people who do not have the balls to suffer the same pain.
So eye for an eye will leave only a few of them blind, and rest of them not even daring to do the wrong.
not ears or nose!
second tariq … castration
castration (plus incarceration) should send out a clear message
Extremely brutal and unconstitutional. I have been discussing this case with my fellas and I am kinda amazed to see some have supported this punishment just because these sort of things being happening with the women in Pakistan. My all sympathies with the poor women but I believe the culprits could be behind the bars for 14 years or even give them a death sentence for attempted murder. That wouldn’t be brutal atleast.
As far as Islamic point of view, There are many thing in Islam which had reformed in the past. These sort of things and decision which make muslims confuse in this 21st century should be changed or reformed by the Ullamas. Brutality shouldn’t be a part of religion.
All these sort of presumable laws shouldn’t be considered in decision making of civilized courts.
If a dog bites you, you don’t bite that dog back. If you do, It won’t be a civilized act from you and courts are supposed to be civilized not act like a dog.
This is extremely disappointing to see that our courts are taking attractive decisions just to be in news perhaps. I don’t know what happened to those ladies who were buried live in Balochistan and the respectable member of assembly said, its the part of their customs. I don’t know why so selected justice in every case either its Zardari cases or these social cases. Why not considering those cases which involved the big cats or why not taking considering every one !
I agree with Harris, an eye for an eye is sometimes necessary to let the evil doers a taste of their own medicine. 90% of people are innocent, its the 10% which is corrupted and evil.
An eye for an eye indeed makes the whole world blind. There is absolutely NO end to the cycle of violence that occurs when an individual or group commits an act of violence in revenge for an act of violence. None.
I find it deeply disheartening that so many people think there are exceptions or that it is “sometimes necessary”.
New blog on Pakistan/Afghanistan issues:
http://pakaf.wordpress.com/
Id like to clarify that this does not mean I am advocating pacificism. I am simply saying that if someone takes your eye, they should be punished, but punished in a humane manner. Stooping down to the same low level of the original aggressor only perpetuates a cycle of repulsive violence.