Dhimmi Watch: Acid, the new weapon for disfiguring women

October 3, 2008

Acid, the new weapon for disfiguring women

It's happening in Bangladesh as well as in Pakistan and Gaza. There is, of course, nothing in the Qur'an to the effect of "Throw acid on her" if a woman is disobedient -- there is just "beat her" (4:34). But the horrible attacks on these women are an indirect result of the reduction of women to the status of commodities in Islamic law. They are not seen as equal human beings with rights they were bound to respect, but as animals to be punished harshly if they get out of line.

"Acid, the new weapon for disfiguring women," by Nozrul Islam for Asia News, October 2 (thanks to C.C.):

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Women in Bangladesh suffer marginalization. And the violence against them, at home and outside, continues to grow. Recently, a new weapon has been added: acid, which disfigures their faces and bodies.
Parul's husband is 30 years old. In 2000, he disfigured her by throwing acid into her face, because her relatives had not paid the agreed dowry. The victim's mother presented a charge a few months ago, because until then she was unable to leave her daughter's side, who was always in various hospitals. The husband - who everyone knows to be guilty - is a free man.

Nasima has an 11-year-old mentally retarded daughter who was raped. She accused the attackers two years ago, and since then she has received continual threats. An acid attack left her torso and back devastated. Now she promises that she will not charge her daughter's attackers, and will withdraw her previous accusation.

Domestic and international awareness-raising campaigns led the government to pass, in 2002, a strict law against the custom of throwing acid into the faces of young women for economic reasons, or because of jealousy, or because they resist sexual advances. After a certain reduction in these cases, they are now on the increase again. There were 1,428 from 2002-2007, 116 cases from January to August 2007, which rose to 125 in the same period this year. Since 2002, there have been only 190 trials, in which 254 defendants have been sentenced: 11 to death, 89 to labor camps. Authorities are unable to say how many of the sentences have been carried out, and how many of those sentenced are in fact in prison.

According to the law, acid can be bought only with a license, but anyone is able to procure it on the open market, at a price of about 60 euro cents per kilo: this is enough to disfigure a person, often completely "melting" the throat, trachea, esophagus, with horrible suffering.

Most recently, the victims have not been only young women, but also children, out of vengeance against their parents, and men, especially over land disputes and romantic rivalries.

Posted by Robert at October 3, 2008 6:37 AM
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Comments
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Ah the peace, love and joy of Islam...

Posted by: jewcat

at October 3, 2008 7:08 AM

This is such an insidious practice, since women are forced to cover themselves anyway. All those arguments for a woman's modesty evaporate when the reality of the acid attack makes clear that women are not regarded as even human in Islamic societies.
That is why Ingrid Mattson, Yvonne Ridley, Karen Armstrong of Islam are not only wrong, but evil.

Posted by: Jewel Atkins

at October 3, 2008 8:12 AM

There is a "custom of throwing acid into the faces of young women for economic reasons, or because of jealousy, or because they resist sexual advances?"

Well, now I see how they are just like us in the West. How blind I was to that before!

Posted by: eve_anne_gelical

at October 3, 2008 11:32 AM

I know a lot of my comments begin with "can you imagine", and this one is no exception.

Can you imagine the visceral sentiments, and outraged commentary that would ensue from this story, if the creature in question was not a woman, but a dog? A cat? A horse? Pick your favorite critter.

The outcry would challenge "the shot heard 'round the world".

What kind of sick bastards would even come up with such an idea--to disfigure the wife, for some disagreement with her parents?

This didn't happen because of war. This didn't happen because the man was defending his life, home, family, or property. This happened for one of the basest reasons--filthy lucre. The in-laws wouldn't hand it over, so the next logical step is not to take this to a court of law, but to maim and injure his wife.

This is why I fear Muslims, particularly the men. They tend to be irrational.

Islam turns a blind eye (when it doesn't congratulate a man for permanently damaging someone else), Islam sees this, and Islam doesn't stop it. In my opinion, the old acid-in-her-face routine is, therefore, part of Islam.

Feel the love?

Posted by: Abscedere

at October 3, 2008 11:49 AM

Maybe I should upgrade from something more substantial than pepper spray...

"Yes, officer. I permanently blinded and disfigured him, because he asked me for a dollar..." I don't think that would play, even for my city's police department.

Posted by: Abscedere

at October 3, 2008 11:55 AM

a strict law against the custom of throwing acid into the faces of young women for economic reasons, or because of jealousy, or because they resist sexual advances

So there are obviously circumstances which they feel would warrant acid attacks, for instance, bearing an ankle or not bearing boys, which Muslim 'education' continues to blame on women.

I will never understand the custom of the reverse dowry in South Asia and Sicily. Imagine paying to be pimped into sex slavery. Ugh. Those women start out with less than nothing and then it only goes downhill.

Posted by: jdamn

at October 3, 2008 12:58 PM

personally the thugs that pull this c-ap on woman should in my option should have there nuts and sex diped in boiling acid to punish them

Posted by: ISLAMSNOTFORME

at October 3, 2008 1:28 PM

Stories like this show the hypocrisy of the left and the feminist movement. Where is the outrage from feminists over these horrible attacks primarily against women? Where is the outrage from groups like Amnesty International that wring their hands over terrorists and murderers at Gitmo but remain silent when women and children are attacked?

Posted by: Roxane

at October 3, 2008 5:59 PM

To be fair (I know, why bother), I read about this years ago with respect to Hindu brides. The bride's parents would pay a dowry to the groom's family, an amount agreed upon in advance. The groom's family would then decide that they wanted more, and more, and more. When the bride's family could not afford to pay, sometimes the groom's family would throw acid or otherwise disfigure the bride. I believe her family would generally not take her back and so she was left homeless, destitute, and disfigured.

So we could, I suppose, make a morbid joke that this is one more invention muslims have appropriated.

Posted by: MerryMaven

at October 3, 2008 7:23 PM

http://brianakira.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/muslim-acid-attack-01.jpg

http://brianakira.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/muslim-acid-attack-06.jpg
Acid, the new weapon for disfiguring women

Robert, there is nothing new about acid attacks on women

Below are a series of photos by Ulrik Jantzen
which I have linked to several times here, and you have overlooked

http://brianakira.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/muslim-acid-attack-02.jpg

http://brianakira.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/muslim-acid-attack-11.jpg

http://brianakira.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/muslim-acid-attack-12.jpg?w=499&h=343

http://brianakira.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/muslim-acid-attack-03.jpg

http://brianakira.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/muslim-acid-attack-04.jpg