While Malaysia is grappling with the issue of caning Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno (which will be a historic first caning of a woman if carried out), Saudi Arabia has been meting out caning sentences on women who violate its strict Sharia law. Recently 2 cases caught my attention, and there are certainly plenty of lashes involved. Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism, and lashings are a common form of punishment.
90 Lashes For Assualt On Principal
A recent report in Kuwait’s Al-Watan Daily said a Saudi schoolgirl (the age of this girl is not clear, with some reports saying she is 13 years old, and others saying she is 20 years old) is to be given 90 lashes in front of her classmates followed by 2 months in prison. Her offense?
Apparently the girl was caught with a camera cell phone, a prohibited item. Her phone was confiscated, and in the heat of the confrontation, she struck the principal with a glass.
Dr Riyadh Al-Muhaidib, the Head of the Court in the Saudi city of Jubail which passed the sentence said: “The verdict was accepted by the girl; she did not reject it, which means it will be carried out.”
How was this verdict received in Saudi Arabia? Dr Saleh Al-Khaslan, spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s National Society for Human Rights thinks it is too severe. He said: “The court should have looked for an alternative sentence.”
Dr Saleh Al-Khaslan added that the group is calling on an appeals court in Jubail to hear the case again. Meanwhile, Dr Riyadh Al-Muhaidib held out the possibility that Saudi King Abdullah could pardon the girl. If she receives the royal pardon, then the punishment won’t be carried out.
100 Lashes For Filipina Rape Victim
The second case that caught my attention is that a migrant woman worker from the Philippines is about to have her sentence of 100 lashes carried out. But what was her offense?
36-year old Nerissa (called in some press reports as “Carmile”) left the Philippines to work in Saudi Arabia as a janitor. She is the sole breadwinner of her family and she has 3 children aged, 5, 14 and 15.
3 months into her job as a janitor at a dental clinic, Nerissa was raped by a Bangladeshi co-worker in August year. Her brother, Dennis Neri, working in Qatar said: “Last August when she was on her way home from work, somebody suddenly put a handkerchief on her face, and then it happened).”
What did Nerissa do? Well she was too afraid to tell anyone, not even her family. So she thought the best thing to do was to leave Saudi Arabia. Her employer agreed to release her. But before she could leave the country, she had to undergo a medical examination. Denis Neri explained: “She was asked to undergo a medical examination, it was found out that she was pregnant, her employer brought her to a jail in Dammam.”
So since September 11 2009, Nerissa has been jailed at the Hafer Al Baten Central Jail for having an “illicit affair”. But the condition at this prison was apparently bad, and in Dcember 2009 she suffered a miscarriage. After treatment in the hospital she was transferred back to prison.
Sharia law in Saudi Arabia prohibits caning to be carried out during pregnancy. But now, since she is no longer pregnant (because of the miscarriage), she is due to be caned soon. And that’s 100 lashes for having sex outside of marriage, the proof of which is the pregnancy (never mind that it was pregnancy resulting from rape).
Think about it. Is Nerissa (Camile) being fairly treated? At least in the case of the school girl, she admitted her misdeed and accepted her punishment. But Nerissa (Camile) was raped. Is it fair that a rape victim becomes a prisoner because the resultant pregnancy is used against her as proof that she had committed adultery/fornication? And why so many lashes? Can the Saudi King give her a royal pardon? Will he?
Earlier posts
Saudi Arabia – 40 Lashes Of Cane For 75 Year Old Woman
Saudi Arabia – When Male Guardianship Is Abused
Saudi Caning – King Intervenes In Sex TV Episode
Saudi Caning – Lashes Galore Over Sex Episode
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