Interesting story. I guess that even cultures where men aren't demonized are susceptable to the false rape charge.
Story changed to 'Blasphemy' instead of rape
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- A Pakistani Christian teenager was behind bars Wednesday, August 26, after being beaten on "false" charges of "blasphemy" and several Muslims have demanded a death sentence for him, his family and supporters, rights investigators said.
The group International Christian Concern (ICC) said 18-year-old Safian Masih, who lives in a mixed neighborhood of both Christians and Muslims, is held in a prison of the city of Gujranwala, in Pakistan's Punjab province. “His family has fled their home because they fear for their safety” after a mob “also threatened to kill anyone who helped Safian or his family,” ICC added.
ICC linked the imprisonment to an incident August 8 when the young daughter of one of his Muslim neighbors demanded that Safian bring her items from the grocery store. When Safian refused she reportedly slapped him, and the young man apparently slapped her back, escalating the argument to include both families.
“After the altercation, the girl’s parents allegedly accused Safian of trying to rape their daughter. "When other Muslims heard this, they gathered and severely beat him. After beating him, they submitted a report to the police accusing Safian of rape, and had him handed over to police custody and jail,” Christians said.
BLASPHEMY CHARGES
Two days later, on August 10, “the Muslims changed their story and accused Safian of blasphemy instead of rape. They claimed that the girl was attending a madrassa, [or Muslim school], to learn about the Koran,” seen as a holy book by Muslims, according to ICC investigators. “When Safian encountered her he took her Koran and tore out its pages,” the Muslims allegedly told police.
After hearing this, some Muslims attacked Safian again and beat him so badly that they forced him to “admit” that he had “blasphemed” the Koran, ICC said. "They then handed him over to the police again. On August 14, a Muslim mob gathered and demanded that Safian be put to death as well as family members or supporters.
"His family apparently remained in hiding Wednesday, August 26. The incident is the latest in a series of reported attacks against Christians in Punjab province. “In Pakistan, Christians live as second-class citizens and repeatedly face violence from the Muslims majority,” claimed ICC representative Jonathan Racho.
“Muslims easily exacerbate small disagreements and call for the execution or even murder of Christians. While ICC does not condone Safian’s slapping of a Muslim girl, it is unconscionable for Muslims to call for his death.”
ICC said it had urged its supporters around the world to “pray for the safety of Safian and his family” and to contact Pakistani embassies in their country to ask for his release.
Link:
http://www.bosnewslife.com/8761-pakistan-jails-christian-teenager-for-blasphemy
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7 comments:
There's no way anyone's going to convince me that a guy who was beaten up right from the start like this, is living in a society which does not demonize men. Either that or they have already been demonized to the furthest extent possible. Wo are we to guess about Asia or Muslim countries?
It's not so much about demonizing men as it is more about religious tension and also covering up for one of your own. The parents who accused him of rape were trying to cover for their daughter or so it would seem from the article. So stupid. Some times I just don't understand people.
OT but interesting societal comment none the less.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/29/bracelet_kerfuffle/
AfOR
also
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=344601&CategoryId=12395
AUSTIN, Texas – Despite having spent several years in jails for crimes they did not commit and having received official exoneration, life isn’t easy for some ex-convicts who continue to find impediments to their reintegration into society.
In Texas, close to 40 people convicted of serious crimes, many of them sexual offenses, have been exonerated after DNA tests proved their innocence. Nonetheless, due to the tedious bureaucratic process, their names keep appearing on lists of the state’s sexual predators.
etc
AfOR
@Norm...
Here's some stuff to do...
If you haven't already done so check out Effacing the Male by by Adam Jones. He lays out the template that applies to any western reporting of male suffering or pain.
Consider that the west is in a state of faux war with the Islamic world.
Consider also that Islam is largely polygamous leaving many men disenfranchised as far as family is concerned.
Much of the Islamic custom which is so denigrated as oppressive towards women is actually about keeping single men out of the harem. Make no mistake it can be as brutal in it's treatment of either gender.
gwallan,
thanks for the link and I agree. Actually when I say that men there must be being 'demonized', perhaps that is not the right word, at least in the way MR's usually think of it. Maybe it is more the case that they have a very rigid societal structure - men already are considered demons of a sort; though I assume there are problems with the way women are 'trapped' within that structure as well.
Steve Moxon makes just a couple comments on Islam in his book. He says stuff like female circumcision and wearing of the veil are about female intra-sex competetion, not oppression. He said an entire book could be written on the topic of women in Islamic countries, which he implies would debunk all the notions we have about female 'oppression' there.
It would be nice if he or someone else could write such a book, since Western feminists must increasing look to other places and other times to dig out examples of oppression, as their ability to do that on the home front is gradually waning.
p.s.
I always did wonder about that wartime 'mass rape' idea.
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