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| India-Pakistan |
| 'Brothel owner' freed after forced confession |
| 2007-03-30 |
| Girl students of Jamia Hafsa on Thursday released an alleged brothel owner and her relatives, but only after forcing her to repent in public. The students kidnapped Shamim Akhtar, her daughter, daughter-in-law and a six-month-old baby from their house on the allegation that they were running a brothel on Tuesday night. They were released only after Shamim read out a statement to the press “confessing” that her house had been “misused”. “I am under no pressure to say this and I also now plan to vacate the house where I live,” she said at the press conference, at which she appeared in a veil alongside the head of the madrassa, Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Ghazi said Shamim had been given three options: seek forgiveness; face a case in the Federal Shariah Court; or stand trial in a ‘Shariah court’ headed by a government-appointed judge in Lal Masjid. However, on her return home, Akhtar reporters that she had been “tortured, mentally and physically”. “I was forcefully picked up, beaten and dragged along with my daughter, son’s wife and a six-month-old baby to the madrassa,” she said in tears. “They beat us with batons and said the government can’t do anything, and we had to read out a written confession.” Male and female madrassa students had attacked her house, broken furniture, and taken away jewellery and Rs 25,000 in cash, she said. She said she had “threatened to become a Christian” over her treatment by the students. “I don’t think Islam allows anyone to beat a woman and drag her through the streets like a dog,” she said. She said the students had wanted to get her house vacated and had been threatening her for quite some time. Shamim’s release followed hours of intensive negotiations between madrassa officials and the Islamabad district administration. A teacher of Jamia Hafsa said Shamim had identified several brothels in Rawalpindi and Islamabad and warned the government that if they were not shut down, the madrassa students would take the matter into their own hands. “We want the government to take action against them, otherwise, we will handle the matter ourselves,” said Bint-e-Abdul Wahid, a teacher at the madrassa. “If the government does not move, we will move into action. That will be the first step towards enforcement of Shariah in the country.” Wahid denied Shamim was beaten up during her two days of captivity at the madrassa. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #14 tu focus your stare 3 ft. behind your monitor and let your eyes relax, it's crazy, I can't believe FredmMan did that. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-30 18:42 |
| #13 Roaches with RPGs |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-30 14:36 |
| #12 No, not rats either. They're smarter, friendlier and more loyal. My money is on the scorpion. One of the only creatures I crush instinctively. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-30 14:26 |
| #11 Seems like this was just a simple real estate transaction, not a fight against immorality. IIUC, many cases of "blasphemy" in The Land Of THe Pures are motivated by greed, rivalry, professional disputes,... that is, if you're a christian/hindu/(file your non-muslim religion here), and that a member of the One True Religion owes you money, you have to live with the fact that he can denounce you for having defiled the koran or whatever; insecurity is one major feature for you, since you have no rights, or at least, not the same, equal rights. Remember, that christian women who had been stripped naked after confronting a mob protesting the mo' cartoons? she had the bad idea of pressing charges, and, voilà !, she was immediatly accused by her aggressors of having soiled a photography of the kaaba. A victim of the background noise of muslim persecution. I wonder what happened to her, but she is but one drop in a sea. Here, of course, the Pious students didn't forget to take her valuable. Well, she and her children haven't been gangraped, I suppose that lady is lucky. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-03-30 14:10 |
| #10 No, not rats either. They're smarter, friendlier and more loyal. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-03-30 13:08 |
| #9 Rat analogy? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-03-30 10:58 |
| #8 No, not like cats. Cats are decent creatures. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-03-30 10:55 |
| #7 Dogs, unlike many people, are creatures of good humor, team-work and loyalty until death. Humm, so muslims are more like cats? |
| Posted by: Steve 2007-03-30 10:08 |
| #6 For the record: I cannot trust followers of any religion which is biased against dogs. Dogs, unlike many people, are creatures of good humor, team-work and loyalty until death. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-03-30 09:37 |
| #5 Nice pic with the article. Is that some kind of optical illusion? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-30 08:46 |
| #4 Sort of a Muslim equivalent of 'emminent domain'. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-03-30 07:12 |
| #3 "the students had wanted to get her house vacated and had been threatening " Seems like this was just a simple real estate transaction, not a fight against immorality. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-03-30 07:11 |
| #2 I think Islam actually dictates that, its not an optional thing. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-03-30 06:04 |
| #1 “I don’t think Islam allows anyone to beat a woman and drag her through the streets like a dog,” she said. There's a huge surprise coming for you Ms. Akhtar and you ain't gonna like it. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-30 03:35 |