Muslim
Woman caned in Bangeladesh for Talking to Hindu Man
Dawn, Pakistan ^
Posted on Sunday,
June 07, 2009 4:46:13 AM by milestogo
Woman caned in BD for talking to Hindu man
Sunday, 07 Jun, 2009 | 04:17 AM PST
DHAKA, June 6: A mother was caned for talking to a Hindu man
in
The
punishment was carried out in a remote village on the orders of village elders,
local police chief Enamul Monowar said over telephone.
The village elders found Kamala Begum, 38, a mother of four children, guilty
under Sharia law of chatting with an unidentified Hindu man, Monowar said.
Hindus make up around 10 per cent of
“The villagers got bundles of 25 sticks and hit her
four times on the back. They claimed it was a symbolic punishment. But she’s
humiliated and has been in great mental pain,” Monowar said.
It was the
third such case reported in two weeks and stirred concern among women’s groups
in the Muslim majority but officially Bangeladesh is secular country about a
rise in brutal treatment of women under locally applied Islamic laws.
“In the last few months, we have seen villagers invoking Sharia to
mete out barbaric punishments to women,” said Salma Ali, the head of rights
group
Police have arrested one man and are looking for
others who meted out the punishment to the woman in Shason in northeastern
Earlier this month a man and a woman were caned
for adultery after being convicted by a village court, police said.
Village courts are common in