This news broke my heart. A 14 year old girl in Bangladesh was publicly flogged to death for adultery, after being raped by her much older cousin.

AOL News has the sad details:

Hena Begum was sentenced to receive 100 lashes by a village council made up of elders and Muslim clerics in the district of Shariatpur, about 35 miles from the capital, Dhaka, the BBC said today.

She endured about 80 lashes before collapsing Monday, according to The Daily Star, a Bangladeshi newspaper. Her family took her to a hospital, where she died.

[…]

The very next day, she was sentenced to the flogging in a fatwa, or religious ruling, issued by the village council under Islamic Shariah law, the BBC said.

Her father was also told pay a fine of about $700, police told the BBC.

While this practice is not uncommon in several parts of the world, I am somewhat surprised that this occurred in Bangladesh; the country has a relatively strong record of protecting women’s rights. Perhaps this is why the perpetrators will face punishment:

Four people, including a Muslim cleric, have been arrested in connection with Hena’s death, the BBC said. Police said they were looking for another 14 people in the case.

Bangladesh’s high court has ordered district officials in Shariatpur to explain why they did not protect the girl, The Daily Star said. The court ruled eight months ago that Shariah punishment was illegal.

I hope that Hena’s family will receive justice.

Categories: Violence

Tags: Bangladesh, Rape