200 lashes for rape victim

 

 

‘Punish the victim and be lenient to culprits’ seems to have become that latest driving point of the Wahhabi-hijacked Saudi legal system. In what has further dented the already shoddy image of the Saudi legal system, one of the courts in the kingdom has sentenced a rape victim to 6 months of imprisonment apart from awarding 200 lashes.

The woman, known anonymously in the Saudi press as “Qatif Girl” for the town where the crime took place, was originally sentenced to 90 lashes for being in a state of “khalwa” – retreat with a male who’s not a relative. But the General Court of Qatif increased the punishment to 200 lashes and six months in jail after she took her case to the press. Authorities deemed it an “attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media”.

FACTFILE

Attackers sentenced to 2 to 9 years in prison

Controversy may help reform judical system

Islamic law is tough on rapists



The seven attackers were convicted of rape with sentences that ranged from two to nine years in prison. Talking to TSI, Fadi Al-Qadi, a women’s rights expert at Human Rights Watch, said: “A woman faces lashing for speaking out about her efforts to find justice. This verdict not only sends victims of sexual violence the message that they should not press charges, but in effect offers protection and impunity to the perpetrators.”

The sentence has created furore in the international community. Human Rights organisations have slammed the ruling and urged King Abdullah to void the verdict and drop all charges against the rape victim.

Moreover, Abdulrahman al-Lahim, the lawyer representing the rape victim predicted the controversy may help reform the Saudi judicial system.

Meanwhile, there is a need to read between the lines here. As things stand, the girl belongs to minority Shia community whereas the judges belong to the Wahhabi community, the bete noire of Shias. Also, Wahhabis are known for, often strict, literal and twisted interpretation of the Sharia to suit their doctrine.

It becomes evident in the present case where culprits were only sentenced to prison when Islamic law is categorically tough on rapists.