Mothers and daughters


Via a tweet by the great Deeyah – a woman in India is murdered for refusing to “compromise” in her daughter’s rape case.

I suppose I should warn you: it makes very ugly upsetting reading. That’s so often the case, but maybe I should give warnings more often.

A month-and-a-half after a schoolgirl was reportedly raped in Betul, her mother was allegedly shot dead by the accused and his friends on Friday night. No arrests have been made so far.

Imarti Uike, a 45-year-old tribal woman, had refused to withdraw the case related to the alleged rape of her 16-year-old daughter and had filed a written complaint about the repeated threats being faced by her family.

Late on Friday, when the family of six was preparing to retire for the night, six persons, including Raju Gavli — the main accused in the rape case — his brother Bantu, Rajesh Harode, Praveen and two others, reportedly entered their house in Hamlapur locality.

The 16-year-old girl, her father and three brothers were present when the accused reportedly shot Imarti, who had refused to agree to a compromise in the rape case. She was rushed to a hospital where she died during treatment late in the night.

That upsets me.

It reminds me of Leila Hussein, who was murdered for leaving her husband after he murdered their daughter for talking to a British soldier. Remember her?

Leila Hussein lived her last few weeks in terror. Moving constantly from safe house to safe house, she dared to stay no longer than four days at each. It was the price she was forced to pay after denouncing and divorcing her husband – the man she witnessed suffocate, stamp on, then stab their young daughter Rand in a brutal ‘honour’ killing for which he has shown no remorse.

Though she feared reprisals for speaking out, she really believed that she would soon be safe. Arrangements were well under way to smuggle her to the Jordanian capital, Amman. In fact, she was on her way to meet the person who would help her escape when a car drew up alongside her and two other women who were walking her to a taxi. Five bullets were fired: three of them hit Leila, 41. She died in hospital after futile attempts to save her.

She had been up all night packing, and making a cake for the women who had sheltered her.

It reminds me of Rona Amir Mohammad, the first wife of Mohammad Shafia, who tried to protect and support the Shafia daughters, and was murdered for her pains.

It reminds me of Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, who accused some militiamen of raping her, and was stoned to death for adultery in front of a crowd in Mogadishu. She was 13. Remember her?

“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me,” she said, according to the man who wanted to remain anonymous. A few minutes later, more than 50 men threw stones.

Numerous eye-witnesses say she was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck then pelted with stones until she died in front of more than 1,000 people last week.

This upsets me.

 

 

Comments

  1. smrnda says

    Incredible viciousness and misogyny. What, rape victims just get killed since nobody wants to own “damaged goods?”

  2. mirax says

    #3. They are hindus, not muslims. Religion plays a part here in so much as it is responsible for the vile caste system which perpetuates great injustice against the lowest casr

    This case is typical of what happens to the tribal people on a systemic basis in the Indian heartlands. Caste and wealth privileges entitle the upper classes to rape and murder at will and there is little recourse to justice. The police are corrupt, brutal and incompetent. No wonder there is a violent naxalite rebellion raging in the indian heartland.

  3. Elsbeth says

    I honestly don’t think that ‘upset’ covers how I feel about this kind of brutality.

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