Well she dishonoured the village, you see
An 18-year-old Muslim girl in Nawada district, Bihar was tied to a tree and caned by her family members for loving a Hindu boy. Her punishment was allegedly a result of the village panchayat’s diktat.
The incident happened on Wednesday (October 3) in Jogiya Maran village falling under Rajauli police station in Nawada. She remained tied to the tree for around five hours.
When she was being thrashed, no one came to her rescue.
Or while she stayed there tied to the tree for five hours either, apparently.
The two wanted to marry but her family was against it, so she ran away to his village.
The girl’s family came to know that she was with Kumar and soon went to his place to bring her back.
Thereafter, the panchayat was convened which directed the girl’s family to punish her for dishonouring the village. The girl was then tied to a tree and caned.
That will teach her to love the village and the people in it.
Teach her to love her village, fellow villagers, and to not want to marry outside of her religion. The IT article says that no arrests were made but the perpetrators received a warning (ooh, a bit harsh), and the police are hunting the boyfriend who has gone on the run. Why they’re hunting for him isn’t stated, but if this is a Mulim-governed part of India then my guess would be that he is to be punished for trying to lure a Muslim woman away to Hinduism.
Also in the article is a photograph showing the young woman tied with her back to the tree, suggesting that she took the blows to her front and sides. Somehow, that’s even more barbaric than the usual canings on the backs of the victims. Still, it appeared to attract a good crowd, albeit a rather disinterested-looking one. Maybe they prefer a good stoning or beheading, but as there was nothing on the TV they toddled along out of boredom. No doubt there was much discussion later of the volume and intensity of her screams and whether they were more or less anguished than the last dishonourable wench to be caned there.
How can a village have “honour” to dis in the first place? Honour is about integrity of action, isn’t it? I’m fairly sure villages don’t do stuff.
I’m being sarcastic, of course. They’re referring to the honour of the villagers. So they must mean “honour” in the sense of abiding by a moral code. A moral code that finds thousands of ways to tie women to fucking trees and hit them with sticks.
It seems a bit unfair of them to blame the village.
It’s got me thinking about what is the moral code of the village I live in, though. It seems to boil down to not going in the wrong pub and shouting abuse at the staff in the Chinese takeaway, which is mandatory. There’s a big section about getting indefeasibly angry if a neighbour parks an inch outside their allotted space, too, but that’s about it.
I really don’t think they really know what honour means…
Well quite. I think the point of honour is supposed to be that it doesn’t need enforcing. It’s doing the right thing because it’s right, not because you’ll be tied up and beaten/stoned/beheaded/raped to death for getting on a bus at night/etc if you don’t.
l also think that the point of honor is, or should be, based around what you yourself do. If your daughter decides to do something of which you do not approve, it is not a challenge to your honor. If there is any dishonoring to be done, it is not her doing it to her family, but her doing it to herself. (And, of course, I fail to see how falling in love with someone who happens to pray to a different god(s) is a dishonor. It’s just a normal human emotion that is not in our control).
Not that it matters much, but if you really look closely she is tied with her front to the tree (pixelated face toward tree, ponytail away from tree, finger position, etc.).
Shame on all of those people.
Skeletor, you’re correct. I initially saw the picture on my ‘phone but having viewed it on the laptop it is obvious that she was tied facing the tree.
I suppose it was kinder for the man carrying out the beating that he didn’t have to see the agony on her face with every stroke; might have put the poor chap off his dinner.