Christian girl sentenced to whipping by Muslim judge

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Silva Kashif, 16, was lashed 50 times after receiving the sentence from a Sudanese judge, who ruled her knee-length skirt to be indecent.

The teenager was arrested while walking to the market in the Khartoum suburb of Kalatla. The police officer took her immediately before a Sharia court, and whipped by another police officer after being ordered by the judge to do so.

The girl’s mother, Jenty Doro, told Reuters: "She is just a young girl but the policeman pulled her along in the market like she was a criminal. It was wrong. I only heard about it after she was lashed. Later we all sat and cried ... People have different religions and that should be taken into account.”

Because the family is Christian and the girl is a minor, they are planning on filing a lawsuit.

The family’s lawyer Azhari al-Haj said: "She was wearing a normal skirt and blouse, worn by thousands of girls. They didn't contact a guardian and punished her on the spot."

Of course, the brutal treatment of women living under Islamic law is nothing new.

One night in July 2009, Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed Hussein was having dinner with several of her friends, when between 30-40 police officers rushed into the restaurant and placed all of the women under arrest for wearing pants, which the police claim is forbidden by Muslim law.

Many of the women opted to be punished at the time of their arrest, and received 10 lashes, along with a $100 fine. However, Hussein decided to go to court, which risks the stiffer penalty of 40 lashes if she is convicted.

Hussein wanted to go to trial in order to bring world attention to the brutal treatment to which women are often subjected inside Muslim countries. She printed up 500 invitations for the trial which began Wednesday.

Hussein told the BBC: "I want to change this law, because hitting is not human.”

In April 2009, the Taliban in Pakistan released a video of a teenaged girl being beaten repeatedly, in punishment for hosting a man in her home. The video appeared on Pakistani television as a warning to others.

The disturbing footage shows the young girl being held down by two men, as a third man whipped her on her back over 30 times, while one of the men rubbed her face into the dirt.
Her painful screams cry out: “Stop. It's killing me." "For God's sake, stop," "I swear on my father and grandmother I won't do it again."

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told the Guardian: "She came out of her house with another guy who was not her husband, so we must punish her. There are boundaries you cannot cross.” He also said that her offense is actually punishable by death, and that the whipping was in fact a “lenient” penalty.

 

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