Thursday, September 05, 2013

A Child's Death Rocks Islam's Teachings

LT. COLONEL JAMES G. ZUMWALT, USMC (RET) 
Only time will tell, but a 5-year-old Saudi girl may eventually prove to have wielded more influence over her people during her short, tragic life than did the country's conservative religious leaders touting twisted "virtues" of Islam satisfying their own perversions.

In Saudi Arabia last year, 5-year-old Lama al-Ghamdil was killed by her father -- Islamic religious leader and popular TV personality Imam Fayhan al-Ghamdi -- after he became incensed she had lost her virginity. Even more shocking, however, is the person to whom her virginity was lost and the initial punishment he was given.

Most societies seek to protect the one asset perpetuating their future existence: children. Where child protection laws have been passed but ignored society expects responsible citizens to report an adult's abusive treatment and that the justice system will then ensure children are protected from an abuser.

Ghamdi confessed to torturing and killing his daughter. The girl's body showed evidence of a fractured skull, brain damage, repeated rapes, burns, beatings with whips and an iron, electrical shocks, a broken back, ribs and arm. Reportedly, he also had sadistically sought to burn Lama's rectum closed.

For 10 months, Lama lingered in the hospital before succumbing in October 2012 to her massive injuries. One cannot imagine the thoughts going through this defenseless child's mind as she tried to understand the pain and suffering she was forced to endure at the hands of her own father.

Ghamdi was arrested and jailed in November.


The abuse inflicted upon Lama was justified by the father as she no longer was a virgin. That would have been sad enough but evidence suggests the father was the rapist.
Obviously, any parent should be outraged by such sadistic brutality. While too late to help Lama, one would hope Saudi's justice system would put the father away so his two other children avoided similar abuse.
But a Saudi judge ruled Ghamdi need only pay his ex-wife $50,000 in "blood money" for having abused and killed their daughter (had the child been male the fine would be double), stating the few months he had already spent in prison was sufficient punishment!
The ruling was based on Islamic or "Sharia" law prohibiting a father from being executed for killing his child (or wife) if compensation is paid.
Ghamdi also was allowed to retain custody (the parents are divorced) of his two surviving children.
The initial response by the Saudi government to this case was only to establish a 24-hour hotline to report child abuse.
While it is bad enough any human being could abuse his own child like this, it is even more frightening the person doing so was a religious leader who believed he could so act with impunity.

1 comment:

Hans said...

May this little beloved child of God, now sit on the right hand side of the throne...

This story is beyond belief...

There will be a special place for this feral person...