Friday, April 1, 2011

Raped Muslim Girl 14 Lashed to Death for Adultery

Muslim Girl, 14, Lashed to Death for Alleged Adultery Jonathon M. Seidl, Blaze

* 14-year-old Hena Akhter was found guilty of adultery and sentenced to 101 public lashes under Shariah law.
* She died from being flogged — despite Shariah law being outlawed in Bangladesh — but doctors tried to cover that up.
* Her family claims she was raped by a cousin.
* Police are now investigating the incident.

Up until her last breath, young Hena Akhter declared her innocence. But that didn’t matter. The 14-year-old Bangladeshi Muslim girl was lashed to death, accused of adultery.

The imam at the local mosque said she was guilty of having an affair with a married man. Her family said she was raped. The imam disagreed. He ordered a fatwa: 101 public lashes. She lasted only 70.

CNN reports:

Bloodied and bruised, she was taken to hospital, where she died a week later.

Amazingly, an initial autopsy report cited no injuries and deemed her death a suicide. Hena’s family insisted her body be exhumed. They wanted the world to know what really happened to their daughter. [...]

Hena was the youngest of five children born to Darbesh Khan, a day laborer, and his wife, Aklima Begum. They shared a hut made from corrugated tin and decaying wood and led a simple life that was suddenly marred a year ago with the return of Hena’s cousin Mahbub Khan.

Mahbub Khan came back to Shariatpur from a stint working in Malaysia. His son was Hena’s age and the two were in seventh grade together.

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