Post by bert on Feb 3, 2011 19:04:12 GMT
Police in Bangladesh have arrested four Islamic clerics after a teenage girl was whipped to death for allegedly having an illicit relationship with a married man.
Police chief AKM Shahidur Rahman said the clerics are accused of ordering 14-year-old Mosammet Hena to receive 100 lashes in a fatwa or religious edict at a village in south-western Shariatpur district, 35 miles from the capital Dhaka.
Fatwas are illegal in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation governed by secular laws.
But Islamic clerics often preside over courts that use Sharia law and issue fatwas to deal with issues like extra-marital relationships. Such incidents usually occur in remote villages where police do not have quick access.
The girl collapsed after she was lashed in public with a bamboo cane about 70 times on Monday, Mr Rahman said. She was taken to a hospital and died hours later.
Mr Rahman said the 40-year-old man with whom the girl was allegedly involved was also sentenced to 100 lashes, but he fled to escape the punishment.
"We are hunting for the man," Mr Rahman said.
Police chief AKM Shahidur Rahman said the clerics are accused of ordering 14-year-old Mosammet Hena to receive 100 lashes in a fatwa or religious edict at a village in south-western Shariatpur district, 35 miles from the capital Dhaka.
Fatwas are illegal in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation governed by secular laws.
But Islamic clerics often preside over courts that use Sharia law and issue fatwas to deal with issues like extra-marital relationships. Such incidents usually occur in remote villages where police do not have quick access.
The girl collapsed after she was lashed in public with a bamboo cane about 70 times on Monday, Mr Rahman said. She was taken to a hospital and died hours later.
Mr Rahman said the 40-year-old man with whom the girl was allegedly involved was also sentenced to 100 lashes, but he fled to escape the punishment.
"We are hunting for the man," Mr Rahman said.