In the past few weeks, the
local press carried some heart wrenching stories, ranging from a woman
who dumped her newly born baby in a toilet during a church service, policemen
taking a client’s car for a night time drinking spree and crushing it after a client left it in their custody for safe keeping and a ten year old girl who became pregnant but does not know who is responsible for her pregnancy.
But the story that shocked me
the most came from the international media and it was that of a Pakistan woman who was stoned to death by her family in
front of a court. Almost 20 members of the woman’s family, including her father
and brothers attacked her and her husband with batons and bricks.
What was shocking was that all
this took place in broad daylight before a crowd of onlookers and right in front of
the high court which to many is a symbol of justice. The only consolation to this sad story was that the father was
arrested and hopefully all those who were involved.
The only crime this woman committed
was to marry someone she loved. The couple went to court to register their
marriage but the woman’s relatives were waiting outside. As the new couple
walked up to the main gate the family members fired shots in the air and tried
to snatch her from her husband. When she resisted, they started beating her
with bricks from a nearby construction site.
Her father then surrendered
himself. “I killed my daughter as she had insulted all of our family by
marrying a man without our consent, and I have no regret over it”, he said.
This was not the first time a
woman has been killed in such a gruesome manner. The Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan released a report indicating that 869 women were killed in similar “honour
killings” in 2013.
If there is any cruel death
that one can think of, stoning, or lapidation, is one of them. It is a slow and
painful death. According to Wikipedia, stoning still remains a legal form of judicial
punishment in Iraq, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Northern
Nigeria, Aceh in Indonesia and Pakistan where this recent case took place.
In 2012, a couple
who had sex outside marriage were stoned to death by Islamists in the town of
Aguelhok in northern Mali. They were buried up to their necks, then pelted with
stones until they died.
Stoning has been
condemned by several human rights organizations such as Amnesty international and
the Human Rights Watch. I know that very few people would support that type of
justice. I have seen thieves beaten with all types of weapons including stoning
but I cannot comprehend why someone can kill their own relative in such a way.
What was more
appalling about the Pakistan woman is that she was pregnant at the time she was
being killed. This means that two lives were lost in the name of restoring
honour.
I am a person
that likes watching movies and these include horror and other violent
movies but I don't think I can stand and watch people stoning other people to death.
I have seen videos on You-Tube of people being executed by stoning but I do not
have the guts to click on the play button to watch.
This brings me
back to the local stories I have mentioned at the top. I keep wondering what would have happened
to the 10 year old girl of Ndola who has been made pregnant if she belonged to that Pakistan family. I am sure the
parents of this little girl have been shocked and totally embarrassed by the
whole incident but they cannot possibly take her outside the house
and stone her to death.
The same applies
with the woman who dumped her newly born baby. The people at the church who rescued the little one were obviously annoyed with the mother. Would stoning her
to death be the ultimate punishment? Who would pick the first stone?
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