Four people, including a Muslim scholar and three village elders, have been arrested in Bangladesh for ordering a woman to be caned and stoned after she was accused of having an extramarital affair. The woman was “caned 82 strokes” and “stoned 80 times” with small brick pieces after an imam issued a fatwa, a religious decree, punishing her last week. The 30-year-old woman was allegedly having an affair with a local autorickshaw driver. Her husband works in the Gulf country of Oman and returned home after the incident was reported. The village council ordered the caning and stoning in the name of Sharia law after she was accused of adultery. The police officer said the woman was “a victim of terrible injustice”.
The cases were filed under Bangladesh’s Prevention of Oppression Against Women and Children Act. The fatwa triggered an outcry, with feminist groups and rights activists staging protests to demand the perpetrators’ prosecution. The mainly Muslim South Asian nation of 170 million people has a secular legal system and applying Islamic law in criminal cases is illegal. Decades ago, village councils in rural Bangladesh commonly used Islamic law to punish Muslim women accused of adultery. In a 2011 ruling, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court allowed fatwas to be issued but prohibited their enforcement. The decision effectively allowed Islamic law to be followed voluntarily but prohibited any kind of punishment by Muslim scholars or village councils.
Fauzia Moslem, the president of the country’s largest women’s group, said: “They acted like medieval people”. The woman said she was “a victim of terrible injustice”. The village elders “said it will absolve her from her sin and will redeem her honour”. The police inspector Zakir Hossain said officers arrested four people, including the imam of the mosque in Habiganj in the northeast, after the woman filed a criminal case on April 7 against 17 people. The woman was “a victim of terrible injustice”. Her husband also seeks justice for what happened to his wife.
The incident highlights the ongoing issue of violence against women in Bangladesh. According to a report by the Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, a women’s rights group, there were 1,413 cases of violence against women in the country in the first nine months of last year. Of those cases, 76 women were killed and 53 committed suicide. The report also revealed that 13 women were raped every day in the country. The government has been urged to take action to protect women from violence and to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
The incident also raises concerns about the use of fatwas in Bangladesh. While the Supreme Court has prohibited their enforcement, they are still being issued and followed by some communities. In many cases, these fatwas are used to justify violence against women, including stoning and caning. Human rights groups have called for the government to take stronger action to prevent the use of fatwas and to ensure that those who issue them are held accountable for their actions.
The arrest of the imam and village elders is a positive step towards addressing the issue of violence against women in Bangladesh. However, more needs to be done to ensure that women are protected from violence and that perpetrators are held accountable for their actions. The government must take stronger action to prevent the use of fatwas and to ensure that those who issue them are held accountable for their actions. It is only by taking strong action that Bangladesh can hope to end the cycle of violence against women and create a safer and more equal society for all.