Asia

Bangladesh arrests four for caning, stoning woman over affair

Police say the girl was ‘caned 82 strokes’ and ‘stoned 80 instances’ with small brick items after an imam issued a ‘fatwa’, a spiritual decree.

A Muslim scholar and three village elders have been arrested in Bangladesh on prices of ordering a lady to be caned and stoned after she was accused of an extramarital affair, in accordance with police.

Police on Monday stated the girl was “caned 82 strokes” and “stoned 80 instances” with small brick items after an imam issued a fatwa, a spiritual decree, punishing her final week.

Police inspector Zakir Hossain stated on Tuesday officers arrested 4 folks, together with the imam of the mosque in Habiganj within the northeast, after the girl filed a felony case on April 7 towards 17 folks.

He advised Al Jazeera the instances had been filed beneath Bangladesh’s Prevention of Oppression In opposition to Ladies and Youngsters Act.

“After the submitting of the case, we arrested the native cleric who gave the fatwa. We’ve got additionally arrested three different village elders who took half within the casual council, referred to as ‘shalish’,” Hossain stated.

“The village council ordered the caning and stoning within the identify of Sharia legislation after she was accused of an extramarital affair,” Hossain stated.

The village elders “stated it is going to absolve her from her sin and can redeem her honour”, he added.

The police officer stated the 30-year-old girl was allegedly having an affair with an area autorickshaw driver. Her husband, he stated, works within the Gulf nation of Oman and returned residence after the incident was reported.

“He additionally seeks justice for what occurred to his spouse,” Hossain advised AFP information company.

The girl stated she was “a sufferer of horrible injustice”.

“I can’t categorical in language what they did to me,” she stated.

The primarily Muslim South Asian nation of 170 million folks has a secular authorized system and making use of Islamic legislation in felony instances is unlawful.

The fatwa triggered an outcry, with feminist teams and rights activists staging protests to demand the perpetrators’ prosecution.

“They acted like medieval folks,” Fauzia Moslem, the president of the nation’s largest girls’s group, advised AFP.

Many years in the past, village councils in rural Bangladesh generally used Islamic legislation to punish Muslim girls accused of adultery.

In a 2011 ruling, Bangladesh’s Supreme Courtroom allowed fatwas to be issued however prohibited their enforcement.

The choice successfully allowed Islamic legislation to be adopted voluntarily however prohibited any type of punishment by Muslim students or village councils.

Faisal Mahmud contributed to this report from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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