Joel Hendon

Pakistani Couple Sentenced To Death By Stoning For Adultery


Posted: Friday, July 23, 2010

by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html

The man, Zarkat Khan, ran away and is being sought, however the woman is in custody. Her name has been withheld at the request of some human rights groups who have protested the sentencing, and particularly that the man has escaped and the woman facing the problem alone. She is reportedly married and has three children.

"As usual, it is the woman who is made to bear the brunt of such atrocious barbarism, injustice, and inhuman, un-Islamic sentences," said the Woman's Action Forum, a Pakistani non-governmental organisation. "Why is the provincial law enforcement system neither de jure nor de facto functional? Where are the women's protection mechanisms and institutions?" (Guardian.uk.co)

Some countries who have Islamic law use the stoning method of execution. It is common place that a woman will be placed in a deep hole and buried up to the neck, then stoned by those who are witnessing the execution. Men are only buried to the waist. If one survives the stoning, they are free.

As usual, there have been many protests from around the world over the harshness of this punishment and some feel that the sentencing will not be carried out.

However, Maroof Khan, who sat on the tribal court made this statement:

"We burned down the man's house, as is our tradition. When we get hold of them, we'll kill them, there's no doubt about that. It was a clear-cut case. This is our custom. We will just shoot them. Finished." (Ibid)

The man is probably right. This area is not under the control of the Taliban, nor is it under the Pakistan national police. The government is the tribal leaders themselves in what is called jirga (tribal court). They are not easily influenced by outside protests. There have been several put to death in the Kala Dhaka area by the tribal courts.

However, Maroof Khan, the man who sat on this court states that they usually do not stone them but simply shoot them. A small but probably welcome alternative.

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