Woman released after agreeing to marry rapist
Disgusting.
Afghan president pardons imprisoned rape victim - after she agrees to marry attacker
International outrage over plight
BY The Associated Press
Friday, December 2 2011, 3:01 AM
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday pardoned an Afghan woman serving a 12-year prison sentence for having sex out of wedlock after she was raped by a relative.
Karzai’s office said in a statement that the woman and her attacker have agreed to marry. That would reverse an earlier decision by the 19-year-old woman, who had previously refused a judge’s offer of freedom if she agreed to marry the rapist.
Her plight was highlighted in a documentary that the European Union blocked because it feared the women featured in the film would be in danger if it were shown.
More than 5,000 people recently signed a petition urging Karzai to release the woman. She had the man’s child while in prison and raised her daughter behind bars, which is common among women imprisoned in Afghanistan.
A statement released by Karzai’s office says that after hearing from judicial officials, the decision was made to forgive the rest of the sentence she received for having sex out of wedlock, a crime in Afghanistan. The presidential statement did not say when the woman was to be released or how much prison time had been pardoned.
The woman told The Associated Press in an interview last month that she had hoped that attention generated by the EU film might help her get released. With the film blocked, she said that she was losing hope and considering marrying her rapist as a way out. She said her attacker was pressuring her to stop giving interviews.
About half of the 300 to 400 women jailed in Afghanistan are imprisoned for so-called “moral crimes” such as sex outside marriage, or running away from their husbands, according to reports by the United Nations and research organizations. Fleeing husbands isn’t considered a crime in Afghanistan.
The EU welcomed the woman’s release.
“Her case has served to highlight the plight of Afghan women, who 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban regime often continue to suffer in unimaginable conditions, deprived of even the most basic human rights,” the European Union’s Ambassador and Special Representative to Afghanistan, Vygaudas Usackas, said.
He said the EU hoped the same mercy would be extended to other women serving similar terms. Usackas said he planned to raise the issue of Afghan women’s rights at an international conference on Afghanistan Dec. 5 in Bonn, Germany.
Some of the most severe restrictions women faced under the Taliban, like a ban on attending schools and having to have a male escort to venture outside the home, were done away with when the radical Islamic movement was driven from power in 2001. But Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative and male-dominated society, meaning women are still sold to husbands and rights enshrined in law are often ignored in practice.
Brainwashed Children...
Country's that are quick to convert,, dont count your chickens before the hatch mate...
You do not want to understand that there is nothing in Islam says that raped women must be killed .
And you do not want to understand that Afghanistan is not ruled by Islamic sharee'ah.
===========================================
The sharee'eh rule in rape case is:
the man must be killed
No any penalty for Women
If pregnancy occurs the child carries the name of his father and the all rights in society are guaranteed
===========================================
NOTE: Befor talking about anything ,try to read about it.
Funny how some people get so sensitive about these news. Miss Mimi is just posting what's out there and some piss ass poor troll who's got nothing to do all day starts badmouthing the United States.
Yeah, screw those gringos but still, the lady will have to marry the rapist just to save her life. That's a fact, period.
I know that's what it is Doha Chap. Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of Islam knows that it doesn't support these kind of sentences, which is why I'm always flabbergasted that the judges site "Shariah Law" as the justification, and even more flabbergasted that Muslims around the world and other Muslim countries don't get highly offended and do something about it. These kind of sentences give Islam & Muslims a bad name.
Poor Karzai is always walking on a tight roap...nothing more.
Miss Mimi, I think sis Fateimah answered your question.
It’s all Tribal/country laws, disguised and misrepresented under the name Shariah.
I thought Afghanistan was part of this world... my geography really sucks!!!
some Qlers need to put forward their steps to help needy women around the world, rather than googling on web and pasting similar kind of stories that suits for their time pass.
What if segmund had sex with henna and caught. what would be your verdict?
No need to be aggressive towards Islam perhaps one of your children or your grandchildren or even you will convert to Islam in the future, Since it is the most prevalent religion.
I pray to Allah to guide you all to Islam the right way
There is no justification for the imposition of such a sentence.
The Laws imposed in those lands are more of the Local Traditional and Tribal oriented than what they claim as Sharia Law. In fact those thugs are cheating and Clearly going against the principles of Faith they follow.
The world is moving forward and here we have the educated elite from that place trying to take that country backwards or wanting to keep the women tied down to the stone age.
The men out there use the laws selectively when it suits them to do or carry out their evil work.
So Doha Chap, how do countries like Afghanistan justify these sentences? They say they are following Shariah law. What are they actually following?
TFS...Yes there is for sure nothing in the Quran or reliable narrations of the Prophet to say that a woman who is raped is punished. But the laws practiced in many Muslim lands today are a mix of both Islamic and Tribal/country laws and are then often mistook to be "shariah" by many. And anyone who dose condemn such practices from among Muslim scholars are then labeled as "Wahabis" "misguided" "western supporters" etc.
You are correct. The interference is for long term objectives..
During the time when Omar was the Caplih, a woman accused one of his sons of raping her. She brought the infant borne of this incident with her to the Caliph’s Mosque and publicly made her accusation,
Telling what happened. Umar confrineted his son who in turn ackolweged committing the crime and was duly punished right there and then.
There was no punishment given to the woman.
Islamic legal scholars understand and interpret rape as a crime in the category of Hiraba, that’s equivalent to single person or group of people causing public disruption, killing, forcibly taking property or money, attacking or raping women (hatkul ‘ared).
Rape as hiraba is a violent crime, which in Islamic law is listed under the highest level of (Heiraba) with rather as a separate and more severe punishment for crime of similar nature of violence under the law.
Last but not least, there isn’t a single verse in the Quran or a clear Haddith , which states that a woman who’s victim of rape, should either get stoned to death or is forced to marry her rapist.
My issue with the West interfering is that in general Western interference only causes resentment. As demonstrated in the thread above. No matter how good our intentions we are demonized and vilified.
"There needs to be more interference, especially from other Muslim countries" Yes for sure there SHOULD be but I suspect most of them are far too busy worrying about their own "grievances" today. I for one believe that if God wishes to give justice to such victims like Gulnaz through western agents, then more power to them. And hope and pray more oppressed people will have the courage to now come fourth and be given their rights too.
There needs to be more interference, especially from other Muslim countries.
I agree. It was the intervention of the EU and media that got her released.
It also shouldn't overshadow that there are hundreds of other women in the same predicament Brit. Karzai hasn't pardoned them all.
The fact that Karzai pardoned her should not overshadow the real issue - the passing of the original sentence. The judiciary needs to be brought to task to ensure that such cases don't occur in the future.
why is it always said when some dont agree that its now a anti west/anti Muslim post instead...sad! sad that big people stil throw their toys out the pusher... grow up please..
Once during the time of the prophet peace be upon him, a man was put to punishment on the solitary evidence of the woman who was raped by him.
The Haddith reports that, an incident when a woman was raped, later when some people came by, she identified and accused the man of raping her. They seized the man and brought him to the prophet, who said to the woman, “Go away, for you are innocent ,” but of the man who raped her, he said, “Stone him to death” Reported by (Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud)
as i always say, here we go round the Mulberry bush ! :(
Is that were the judges in Afghanistan are getting this? From Deuteronomy? Because I was under the impression that Muslims didn't follow the Old testament?
Zmanz - I think you should re-read your own comments and think very carefully about what you have written. Nowhere have I even mentioned Islam, sharia etc You however at the first sign of controversy appear to have jumped onto an anti-western big fat chip on your shoulder bandwagon and really quite disappointingly diverted thoughts away from a serious discussion
All I have done is condemn evil actions with no weight as to the why or wherefore.
Again, I implore you, if your next comments are not related to the original topic, PLEASE start a new one and stop diverting this one.
(Deuteronomy 22:28-29 NLT)
If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her.!
*_*!
jjj it was the response to pandu's objections.
and it is understood the thread is not meant for ANTI-this or that.
It was purely regarding the truama of a poor woman.
if this debate is on purely humanity basis then religion should not be bought in.But it was dragged.
so continue with healthy discussion rather than critcizing the religion by reference of country and the culprit and the victim.
I understand you forgot Newtons IIIrd Law.
definitely misguided... can't top that! Out of 7 billion people, 3/4 of the population are so stupid...
I agree with you Fathima.
The Acts of those culprits should not be interpreted as representation of islamic priniciples.
But to some hard headed heads, they can see only islam and the Sharia in all aspects.
As muslim, the tragedy happened in Afgahnistan is utterly condemnabl and totally inhumane which Islamic principles doesnot permit.
This was a purely ignorant and uncivilised mens deeds.
Actually nobody was saying anything against Islam, unless you count superpanda saying it's a shame they are MISINTERPRETING Shariah law, which is exactly what they are doing.
Some people decided to turn this into an anti-West thread though.
Zmanz
I suggest you start another FT - and stop diverting a serious discussion with your biggotry and bile
If people wish to be biased, harbor hatred and deem any faith evil then no amount of reading the holy books will mend their ways of thinking. This post was of a bunch of crazy,inhuman laws in Afghanistan but people wish to turn it into an anti west/anti Muslim post instead...sad!
And of course any faith will deem those who oppose them as "misguided" since obviously they believe they are upon true guidance or else they will not be following their chosen religion.. That's just the way it is!
Its a shame my country men are helping them fight a war and this wil be the outcome when its all over....why... women traeated so bad,, no rights for women,, and they say im a rude bugger
Absolutely correct!
Yeah, at least they are way better than.... as they are faithlfull and doesn't cause harm unnecessarily to others
urrghhhh.. not again...
definitely are misguided.
OK then I challenge you just go through Holy Quran for once with your true heart and intentions then you will come to know; The Truth and meaning of Life.
Believing in False is so easy but to accept truth is very hard and un bearable.
We too believe in Prophet Jesus.
superpanda how could you call Americans as POOR Americans.
it seems you are ignorant of killings in allover IRAQ, AFghanistan, Libya and many many other counries they(AMERICANS) are responsible for it your country is the equally sharing these expeditions of human killings.
naahhh.... You call people that are not in your religion as misguided ones, a dog, a donkey, unclean, devil (satan)... what else???
Well, I strongly object to superpanda for bringing in shariat issue.
This matter is purely a social matter of Afghanistan.
and unforturnately the perperator and the victim are muslim, it doesnot mean that the principles of islam are false.
For sure some societies misuse the Sharia and use it for their interests, its the same happened in Afghanistan and poor woman has to suffer. whereas the culprit should have been hanged for his heinous act.
Surinder, Huh? Americans killing people who wants to convert to islam?
Maybe that's what your religion teacher (Imam? not sure how you call it) taught/told you... Well to educate you further please, in a real world, that is not true.
We'll Surinder is a brainwashed kid.....
I love how many people on this site support the Afghan government in it's persecution of women. Perhaps they should move to Afghan, obviously Qatar and other countries are far too liberal for them.
New apostasy bill to impose death on anyone who leaves Islam
by Qaiser Felix
Pakistan’s government sends draft bill tabled by six-party Islamic alliance to standing committee for review. Under the bill’s terms, apostates would be sentenced to death or life in prison. Testimony by two adults is the only independent evidence needed to determine or demonstrate apostasy. Lahore archbishop is praying the bill is never adopted.
Islamabad (AsiaNews) – A draft bill adopted in first reading by Pakistan’s National Assembly is now before a standing committee. Tabled by a six-party politico-religious alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal or MMA, the Apostasy Act 2006 which the government sent to the committee would impose the death penalty on Muslim men and life in prison on Muslim women in case they leave Islam. It would also force them to forfeit their property and lose legal custody of children.
During the same session, lawmakers rejected another draft bill moved by minority MNA Bhandara which sought to amend the existing blasphemy law.
“This situation is unfortunate and sad. We demand freedom of conscious, religion and expression in Pakistan, and this bill is contrary to the principle of freedom of choice”, said Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha, head of National Commission for Justice and Peace and chairman of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
“Because international human rights charters give every individual the right to change his or her religion according to his or her conscience, we hope and pray that this bill will not be passed,” Mgr Saldanha said.
Should the bill become law anyone who leaves Islam for another religion can be sentenced to death (if male) or life in prison ‘until repentance occurs’ (if female).
Section 4 of the bill says that the offender’s own confession in court or the testimony by at least two adults is sufficient grounds for conviction in apostasy cases. Testimony by non Muslims is not however admissible in certain Pakistani courts.
Section 5 stipulates that the ‘offender’ must be granted 3 to 30 days to recant the conversion and return to Islam. But even in cases where the person returns to Islam judges can impose two-year sentences as punishment for the original ‘crime’. The accused can convert and reconvert up to three times before the death sentence becomes automatic.
Under Section 8 apostates forfeit all their properties which are awarded only to their Muslim relatives. Section 9 says that they also lose custody to any minor in their care and guardianship, including their biological children.
SR there are other meanings to the word poor than just as a method of defining someone's wealth.
Poor America/Americans... They are always the one blamed for all the mess...
Good thing I'm a British...
Lesson: Don't help people if you dont want to be blamed in the end.
s/r best you can do - very well reasoned and absolutely to the point (please note the sarcasm in case you missed this point as well as all others).
This is the civilization that brought and imposed by the United States on Afghanistan.
In the era of Taliban rule, people did not dare to murder or rape, or trade the opium.
also the same situation happend in IRAQ after US occupation.
True that, but hey the world is changing, and a case like this though it may seem just a drop in the ocean might very well signal a better future for all the other unfortunate women out there.Inshallah!
saj
your paranoia does this story no justice - perhaps start a sep FT to discuss your issue but I think that we would just like to talk about this barbaric practice - this should offend any decent right minded person regarless of race, colour or creed and diverting the topic the way you have, is not helpful in getting this out in the open so hopefully something might change.
Miss Mimi wants to prove that, sharia is outdated, and just bash against Islam... and she will get plenty of supporter from this QL... like panda... etc...
Actually who is ruling Afghanistan, is TALIBAN or the US and EU puppet Kharsai, ??????
superpanda dont make a fool of yourself here.
stupid countries... They only follow the ones that are no good. OR maybe the Sharia itself is no good...
Good Fatima! I pity her poor lawyer though. For every win like this, there are still hundreds of women languishing in prison under the same circumstances. :(
It's never hard to misinterpret any law to suit one's need and those law makers who claim to follow the Shariah are no different.They know how to pick and chose! And yes sad but true, in today's world no country is following the Shariah laws word to word no matter what they claim.
And that's why her lawyer has arranged a safe place to have her sent too once she is released.
SR?
what?
In all probability the stabbed wouldn't be put in jail in several parts of the world (unless he/she was guilty otherwise) assuming that he /she enjoyed or derived pleasure from the stabbing.
Why they always misinterpret the Shariah Law??? Isn't it too hard to interpret? All countries trying to follow the sharia are not doing it right! Hmmmm.....
Well Fatima, as the second article I posted said, she is still under threat from his family and hers. Hopefully an aid agency will get her out of the country entirely.
the rapist is the one that should be stoned to death according to Islam, not the one who is raped.
What is being followed there is tribal law not islamic law.
That her "sentence" has been finally over turned and that she gets to walk free with no conditions but the fact is she never should have been imprisoned to begin with. The poor woman!
SR
Not the same thing, not sure how but you have stunningly missed the point - now pay attention closely, if you don't want to continue to look very silly indeed.
The point is no one is denying that rapes do not happen in US/North America/Western Europe and perhaps not all are reported the way they should be.
HOWEVER...
The point is, the very different responses by authorities to reported rapes. I don't think that any right minded decent, moral person could possibly accept what has happened to this woman and is going to continue to happen. This is backwards beyond belief and should offend every decent person on this planet - You included.
That is what I dont understand on this case. She's in jail because she was raped.
And now they want her to marry the man who raped her.
At first he (the rapist) violated her human rights and now the government is violating her rights too by imposing to her to marry the guy who first violated her rights.
They are so conservative when it comes to their women but it seems like its who themselves who violated their own.
In this case Fatima, he got 7 years and she received 12 years (not to mention having to raise his child). I would love to know how these sentences were justified.
Anyways for those who wanna know this is the latest update on her case here's a link: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/12/201112292412790128.html
Again kudos to her lawyer for all her hard work and dedication.
The law of marrying a rapist is gross and barbaric and far far away from the Shariah. According to the laws of Islam a rapist is to be put to death and the victim should NEVER be imprisoned. "pardoned" for getting raped???
Stoning or marry the rapist??? Ofcourse the woman doesnt want to die in a barbaric style.
Kabul (CNN) -- The ordeal of Gulnaz did not simply begin and end with the physical attack of her rape. The rape began a years-long nightmare of further pain, culminating in an awful choice she must now make.
Even two years later, Gulnaz remembers the smell and state of her rapist's clothes when he came into the house when her mother left for a brief visit to the hospital.
"He had filthy clothes on as he does metal and construction work. When my mother went out, he came into my house and he closed doors and windows. I started screaming, but he shut me up by putting his hands on my mouth," she said.
The rapist was her cousin's husband.
After the attack, she hid what happened as long as she could. But soon she began vomiting in the mornings and showing signs of pregnancy. It was her attacker's child.
In Afghanistan, this brought her not sympathy, but prosecution. Aged just 19, she was found guilty by the courts of sex outside of marriage -- adultery -- and sentenced to twelve years in jail.
Now inside Kabul's Badam Bagh jail, she and her child are serving her sentence together.
I started screaming, but he shut me up by putting his hands on my mouth
Gulnaz
Sitting with the baby in her lap, her face carefully covered, she explains the only choice she has that would end her incarceration.
The only way around the dishonor of rape, or adultery in the eyes of Afghans, is to marry her attacker. This will, in the eyes of some, give her child a family and restore her honor.
Incredibly, this is something that Gulnaz is willing to do.
"I was asked if I wanted to start a new life by getting released, by marrying this man", she told CNN in an exclusive interview. "My answer was that one man dishonored me, and I want to stay with that man."
Tending to her daughter in the jail's cold, she added: "My daughter is a little innocent child. Who knew I would have a child in this way. A lot of people told me that after your daughter's born give it to someone else, but my aunt told me to keep her as proof of my innocence."
Gulnaz's choice is stark. Women in her situation are often killed for the shame their ordeal has brought the community. She is at risk, some say, from her attacker's family.
We found Gulnaz's convicted rapist in a jail across town. While he denied raping her, he agreed that she would likely be killed if she gets out of jail. But he insists that it will be her family, not his, that will kill her, "out of shame."
Whether threatened by his family or hers, for now, jail may be the safest place for her.
Shockingly, Gulnaz's case is common in Afghanistan.
CNN asked a spokesman for the prosecutor to comment on the case. The reply was that there were hundreds such cases and the office would need time to look into it.
What a CULT!
SR - I am not sure what your point is - are you condoning what happened to this woman?
Topic is about potatoes and we are getting replies about tomatoes. I dont understand why USA has been dragged into this either.
So if it's under reported in the US, where women have support systems and the law on their side, can you imagine how under reported it is in Afghanistan!
Well this explains it a little Prism. I guess it's a misreading of Sharia law:
November 23, 2011. A landmark law aiming to protect Afghan women's rights by criminalising acts like child marriage and rape is only being used to prosecute a small number of cases, the United Nations said.The Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) law was enacted in 2009 but Afghan courts have only turned to it for just over 100 cases, often relying instead on Islamic Sharia law, it added. The report from the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights again highlights serious and lingering women's rights problems ten years after the Taliban were toppled by a US-led invasion.
It is difficult to understand how a woman who is raped is considered to have had sex out of wedlock and is punished. They sure are reading a completely different set of books. Disgusting indeed.
BTW why is US dragged in here (I have not bothered to read what is written about US, so if there is some link let me know)
At least the United States doesn't make the women marry their rapists. Who knows what the rape rates are in Afghanistan, nobody records them, and the women are generally punished if they are raped, so nobody reports them!