Tell us again how empowering and wonderful the sharia is for women and little girls. Of course, none of the stories speak to the motive, the belief system, the ideology behind this war on women -- Islam.
Under Islamic law, the emphasis is not so much on the crime of rape but on the shame that the woman has brought upon her family by her sexual immorality, even if it was forced. So that shame can be washed away by her marrying the rapist.
Islam teaches that women are the possessions of men and places a high premium on virginity. This woman after the rape would be considered damaged goods. If the rapist had declined to marry her, her life would have been completely ruined, as no one else would marry her and she would be stigmatized.
Sisters In Islam, a Muslim reform group in Malaysia, has surveyed the plight of women in the Islamic world and estimates that as many as 75% of women in Pakistan who are in prison are there because they were raped. Islamic law requires 4 witnesses (male Muslim witnesses) who saw the act to establish it, so a woman's accusation can be self-incriminating if she doesn't have those witnesses.
The 4 witnesses rule comes from the Qur'an (24:4 and 24:13). It is based on an incident in which Muhammad's favorite wife, the child bride Aisha, was accused of adultery. Rather than see her stoned to death, Muhammad got a revelation that four witnesses were required (the accusers didn't have them). This exonerated Aisha, but Muslim women have suffered as a result of this law to this day.
Indictment filed against Nazareth acid attacker Israel National News, March 13, 2013 (thanks to The Religion of Peace.com)
Information released in case reveals relatives of 16-year-old Nazareth girl allegedly raped her for months, attacked her after rejected marriage proposal. Doctors fighting to save victim's sight Ahiya Raved
When the accused understood that the 16-year-old girl he raped intended to marry another, he spilled acid on her face. This is a portion of the indictment filed Sunday morning in the case of the acid attack in Nazareth. As a result of the assault, the young girl sustained injuries to her eyes and throat. She was hospitalized in serious condition at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa and the doctors are still fighting to save her sight.
The two attackers, ages 51 and 17 are the young woman's relatives. The full indictment, which will be filed with the Nazareth District Court by Attorney Liora Hilu, from the Northern District Prosecutor's Office, has been placed under gag order in order to prevent any additional harm to the girl's privacy. The two are accused of multiple acts of rape and aggravated assault.A summary of the released information on the indictment reveals that the two accused sexually assaulted the 16-year-old girl for months. In addition, the elder of the two men, who is married with children, asked to wed the girl, but the family refused him. "Close to the month of February 2013, the accused was made aware of the complainant's intention to become engaged to someone else," the prosecutor described. "The accused understood that her engagement was likely to distance her from him, and thus, he would not be able to continue to rape her."
The victim in the hospital (Photo: Elad Gershgoren)
According to the mother, her daughter was tired and dazed while being examined. "She didn't understand what the investigators said to her. The issue of rape will cause us great harm, especially to my daughters.
"The police should wait until my daughter is released from the hospital and from this emotional crisis caused to her and then they will be able to speak to her freely and confirm every word she says, but to come and speak about rape is unacceptable to us."
Related: Man arrested for pouring acid on 16-year-old's face
