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Mumbai:
The Citizen
for Justice and Peace (CJP) and other groups staged a silent demonstration
at the Saudi Arabian Consulate here on Thursday to protest
against that country's "inhuman" interpretation of
laws that resulted in penalizing a victim of gang rape. In
a memorandum submitted to the Saudi consulate, the CJP said,
"We write to express our deep concern at the fate of the
19 years old female victim of gang rape, initially ordered to
undergo 90 lashes for 'being in the car of an unrelated male
at the time of the rape,' now further sentenced to '200 lashes
and six months in jail for telling her story to the news
media.'" The
Saudi authorities say the trail and sentences are in keeping
with the provisions of the Sharia and, therefore, fair.
<Click for more details 1> Under
the present system, Saudi Arabia enforces a strict Islamic
doctrine that forbids unrelated men and women from associating
with each other and bans women from driving. They have to
cover themselves head-to-toe in public. Women are required to
get a man's permission to travel or have surgery. Women are
not allowed to testify in court unless it is about a private
matter that was not observed by a man, and they are not
allowed to vote. <Click for more details 2> On
September 7, 2000, Saudi Arabia had become a party to the
Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, albeit with reservations. <Click for more
details 3> |
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