Posted on 11/15/2007 7:43:14 AM PST by FooBarBaz
Saudi punishes gang rape victim with 200 lashes
A court in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishing a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday. The 19-year-old woman -- whose six armed attackers have been sentenced to jail terms -- was initially ordered to undergo 90 lashes for "being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape," the Arab News reported.
But in a new verdict issued after Saudi Arabia's Higher Judicial Council ordered a retrial, the court in the eastern town of Al-Qatif more than doubled the number of lashes to 200.
A court source told the English-language Arab News that the judges had decided to punish the woman further for "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media."
Saudi Arabia enforces a strict Islamic doctrine known as Wahhabism and forbids unrelated men and women from associating with each other, bans women from driving and forces them to cover head-to-toe in public.
Last year, the court sentenced six Saudi men to between one and five years in jail for the rape as well as ordering lashes for the victim, a member of the minority Shiite community.
But the woman's lawyer Abdul Rahman al-Lahem appealed, arguing that the punishments were too lenient in a country where the offence can carry the death penalty.
In the new verdict issued on Wednesday, the Al-Qatif court also toughened the sentences against the six men to between two and nine years in prison.
The case has angered members of Saudi Arabia's Shiite community. The convicted men are Sunni Muslims, the dominant community in the oil-rich Gulf state.
Lahem, also a human rights activist, told AFP on Wednesday that the court had banned him from handling the rape case and withdrew his licence to practise law because he challenged the verdict.
He said he has also been summoned by the ministry of justice to appear before a disciplinary committee in December.
Lahem said the move might be due to his criticism of some judicial institutions, and "contradicts King Abdullah's quest to introduce reform, especially in the justice system."
King Abdullah last month approved a new body of laws regulating the judicial system in Saudi Arabia, which rules on the basis of sharia, or Islamic law.
Seems like drugs are more of a problem then rape.
Moving the lashes from 90 to 200 because she complained of being a victim should show her who’s boss.
NOTICE: The floggings will continue until women’s attitudes improve and conform to authority.
Would save our troops the effort.
drugin n rape.
No wonder there are so many willing converts to Islam in American jails, they just want a little ‘action’.
Let’s see....are these the “moderate Muslims”?
What about being in a house with a bunch of guys and pulling your clothes off (stripper) a la Duke Lacrosse party?
ML/NJ
But NOW will fight to death for prime tee-times for female professionals.
We'll adjust.
And the rapists only got jail time. The ROP lives up to its name.
There are four major sects to the Muslim religion. Each worships a dead man that raped children and believed in bestiality (its in the Quran). There are peaceful Muslims just as there are violent Christians. Muslims kill more Muslims than any other religion. Most of those deaths are conflicts between the radical sect and the other sects. The radical sect is winning. Christians and radical Muslims have been fighting for a thousand years and pretending there isn’t a problem has not worked.
The stated goal of radical Muslims is to subjugate the West under Sharia law. Your children or grand children will be faced with this treatment unless the West wakes up.
You’re absolutely right to point this out. Clearly, this media organ is hoping to equate this sort of atrocity with conservatism. What they miss is that “kingdoms,” and the absolute rule that they spawn tend to be “ultra-conservative” in the manner portrayed in the article, where humanity has no value. Which is yet another reason not to vote for hillary. Absolute rulers, whether they come from the right or left, ultimately go so far off the scale that they meet on the other side.
“200 real lashes is a death sentence for practically anyone. I can’t believe they would do this to a 19yo girl.”
They usually apply the lashes in small increments. So they merely scar the woman for life and not kill her outright. She’s actually quite lucky though. Usually rape victims are stoned to death for adultery.
“Which is yet another reason not to vote for hillary. Absolute rulers, whether they come from the right or left, ultimately go so far off the scale that they meet on the other side.”
So you’re comparing evangelicals to radical muslims?
And even so, many American women have converted to Islam. I shall never understand the female psyche.
My thoughts too 200 lashes would probably be fatal. It would strip the flesh off her back leading to a pneumothorax and suffication. BARBARIC
“..90 lashes probably would have killed her.”
Not necessaritly. Correct Islamic lashing is done with the Koran clamped tightly under the arm that wields the lash. There will be hell to pay if the guy doing the lashing drops the book. The lash can only be applied by the use of the forearm and therefore loses much of its power.
Always remember that Islam is the ROP.
Are you sure. I believe that in Saudi, lashings are done a few at a time because even as few as 20 lashes can be fatal if done all at once. I think they do like 5 a week giving time to heal somewhat between lashings.
Of course 200 lashings in six months means 8 or 9 lashes a week. It’s unlikely she will survive that long unless she is exceptionally strong, and lucky.
Are you comparing liberals and wahabbi fascists? Ummmmmmm! You should be whipped and jailed or something.
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