John R. Houk
© June 16, 2013
Kainat Soomro in 2007 was raped by her fellow co-religionist Muslims at the age of 13. Indeed she was raped by four Muslim men as she was returning home. I read in one place she was returning from school and in another she was returning with a gift for her niece. The salient point is that no matter where Kainat was walking home from, she was raped by four Muslims, two of which were a father and son team.
The community that Kainat lived in ordered that she be put to death because the family honor was defiled. The death sentence was to be carried out by a family member. Typically in Muslim honor killings such execution is handed out be the father or brother in the family but really any family member is eligible to avenge the family honor by killing a victim of rape rather than going to the criminals who raped her to at least use the rule of law to send them to prison and at worst exact revenge on the perpetrators.
Kainat’s tortured life is a snapshot to expect of a growing Muslim immigrant population in America. This is the case especially case among Muslims demanding the U.S. government to allow the practice of Sharia Law in America. Sharia Law contradicts American rule of law as embodied in the U.S. Constitution.
The reason Kainat Soomro is back in the news is that a documentary was made exposing the shame of Islam about honor killing. In this case the nation is Pakistan.
I was alerted by Kainat’s continuing plight in Pakistan by the Clarion Project.
JRH 6/16/13
*************************************
Girl Gang Raped in Pakistan: Dares to Fight for Justice
A new film follows the harrowing true ordeal of a Pakistani family who dared to fight for justice after their daughter was gang raped.
June 6, 2013
When a girl was gang raped by four men at the age of 13, her village in Pakistan identified her as a "black virgin" and ordered her killed.
In the rural village of Dadu in southern Pakistan, tradition held that Kainat Soomro's own family should murder her, as her sexual assault had made her a token of disgrace. Four years later, Kainat is alive and a documentary about her story premiered on television in the United States last week. That does not mean that she or her family is safe.
The film, Outlawed in Pakistan, shows how Kainat Soomro is still "destined to be killed" because she took the extraordinary step in Pakistan of fighting for justice. The film is a testament to her family’s strength and endurance in a life which has only become more difficult the longer they have stood up against tradition.
The Soomros have faced isolation, fear and intimidation from the four men Kainat accused of raping her, and from the members of the small village who were afraid of challenging moral laws which have been in existence for centuries. By the mere fact of having made the accusation of rape, Kainat is an outlaw in her own country.
The film, which was first screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, retells the story of the young girl’s attack while walking home from school down a narrow village street by a shop where Kainat says the owner, Shaban Saikh, and three other men -- including a father and son -- held her down and sexually assaulted her.
The village declared her "kari," or a black virgin, and ordered her family to carry out an honor killing to end the shame a rape victim brings to a family, according to Pakistani culture.
The alleged rapists beat her father and one of her brothers. Her older brother went missing for three months and was later found murdered.
Kainat's parents refused to kill their daughter and instead decided to take up her cause in a legal system which places the burden of proof on the victim.
VIDEO: Outlawed in Pakistan (trailer)
"They told me I am not a real man," Kainat’s brother, Sabir told the film-makers, "because you failed to follow your tradition, you failed to kill your sister."
Meanwhile, threats of death and further violence have forced the Soomros from the house they owned in Dadu to the city of Karachi, where all 18 family members now live in a two-bedroom apartment.
The men are unable to find work, so the women embroider fabrics to pay rent. They often have to resort to asking charities for food.
When Kainat attends court she undergoes a barrage of "nasty" questions, up to 300 at a time, including "what part of your clothing did you remove?" or "who raped you first.
The presiding judge is annoyed that Kainat has brought the charges and rules against her in part because she has accused a father and son of a gang rape. "In his view," the film’s narrator says, "he said that would never happen in Pakistan" and describes Kainat’s accusations "as a product of her own fantasy."
The men were acquitted of their crime, and, in an interview with the film makers, appear bewildered at why their accuser did not just stay at home "and keep quiet." They see their acquittal as proof that Kainat "does not have good character. If she was a decent woman, she would have sat at home, silent."
Even as Kainat and her family say they will fight on, perhaps for years, her lawyer suggests the future will be difficult.
LIKE this story to share it with others.
__________________________
May 28, 2013
Frontline
Sharia Allows Muslims Rape in Pakistan
John R. Houk
© June 16, 2013
____________________________
Girl Gang Raped in Pakistan: Dares to Fight for Justice
Copyright © 2013 Clarion Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
There are times that require people to step out of their comfort zone, to step up for justice, tolerance and moderation. We know going in that the repercussions of taking action will draw a rain of accusations and attacks from the forces we are confronting.
We do it anyway. We do it because it must be done.
Founded in 2006, the Clarion Project (formerly Clarion Fund Inc) is an independently funded, non-profit organization dedicated to exposing the dangers of Islamic extremism while providing a platform for the voices of moderation and promoting grassroots activism.
Clarion’s award-winning movies have been seen by over 50 million people. They grapple with issues such as religious persecution, human rights, women’s rights, the dangers of a nuclear Iran and what the concept of jihad means for the West. Our dynamic website, viewed by over 450,000 people in 2012, covers breaking news and provides commentary on relevant issues.
The Clarion Project draws together Middle East experts, scholars, human rights activists and Muslims to promote tolerance and moderation and challenge extremism.
Mailing Address:
Clarion Project, Inc.
255 W. 36th street #800
New York, NY 10018
USA
News Desk (ClarionProject.org):
For Media & Press:
Tel: (646) 308-1230
_________________________
Outlawed in Pakistan
About Frontline:
Since 1983, FRONTLINE has served as American public television’s flagship public affairs series. Hailed upon its debut on PBS as “the last best hope for broadcast documentaries,” FRONTLINE’s stature over 30 seasons is reaffirmed each week through incisive documentaries covering the scope and complexity of the human experience.
When FRONTLINE was born, however, the prospects for television news documentaries looked grim. Pressure was on network news departments to become profitable, and the spirit of outspoken journalistic inquiry established by programs like Edward R. Murrow’s See It Now and Harvest of Shame had given way to entertainment values and feature-filled magazine shows. Therefore, it fell to public television to pick up the torch of public affairs and carry on this well-established broadcast news tradition.
Since its inception, FRONTLINE has never shied away from tough, controversial issues or complex stories. In an age of anchor celebrities and snappy sound bites, FRONTLINE remains committed to providing a primetime venue for engaging reports that fully explore and illuminate the critical issues of our times. In the … Read the Rest
No comments:
Post a Comment