Saudis Uphold Rape Victim Penalty
Several bloggers have brought this situation to public attention; BBC provides the full update HERE:
Authorities in Saudi Arabia have defended a judicial sentence of 200 lashes for a rape victim.
The justice ministry said in a statement that the sentence was justified because the woman was in a car with an unrelated man.
The case has aroused controversy at home and condemnation abroad.
The 19-year-old, who has not been named, was travelling in a car with a male friend last year, when the car was attacked by a gang of seven men who raped both of them.
She has become known as the “Qatif girl”, a reference to the largely Shia town which she comes from.
Four of the men were convicted of kidnapping – but the court also sentenced the woman and her friend to receive 90 lashes each for the crime of “illegal mingling”.
Last week the court increased the woman’s sentence to 200 lashes and six months in prison.
It also banned her lawyer from the courtroom and took away his licence.
Most of the world was outraged when the penalty was doubled because the victim went public.
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Her Lawyer’s license revoked?
Something is fishy in all this.
I don’t see anything fishy – everyone has been pretty upfront. It is a clash of perspectives. The Saudis feel it is appropriate to penalize the victim for 1) being alone with a male to whom she is not related and 2) going public (the penalty was doubled because they went to the press.)
The lawyer is penalized for going to the press.
The rapists have also been sentenced to prison, but none of them get beaten.
The western media is having a field day with this one. If I was here I’d jump on the first plane to any other country and NEVER look back.
Maybe, Enigma, if you had your husband’s permission, or your father’s permission, and someone to travel with you as mahram.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/24/saudi.rape/index.html
The Saudi govt rebuttal on why they did what they did.
Even if she DID have a freaking “illegal” relationship, what is it to them what people do on their free time and in their LIVES!
Well, Chirp, you are talking as if a woman was a thinking person, a responsible person, not a person who needs looking after by a husband/father/little brother, etc.
I can imagine it would be a BIG issue in Saudi Arabia if women thought they were in charge of their own lives.