And he used the Qur’an to justify what he was doing. Of course, the Qur’an explicitly forbids this: “Forbidden unto you are your mothers, and your daughters…” (4:23). That makes this one of the few cases where the oft-repeated contention that the solution to Islamic violence is more Islam actually makes sense: if the wives had known the Qur’an, they might have been able to contradict him. However, even then they might not have dared to do so, since the Qur’an and Sunnah so strongly inculcate the idea that a woman is a man’s servant, and that she must obey him in all things or face physical punishment (Qur’an 4:34).
From Deutsche Presse Agentur, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
Singapore, April 14 (DPA) A Muslim father who enlisted the help of his multiple wives to rape five teenage daughters pleaded guilty in one of the most heinous cases of sexual abuse in Singapore, news reports said Friday.
The 45-year-old man, whose identity was withheld to protect his victims, subverted parts of the Koran to justify incest, Deputy Public Prosecutor Eugene Lee told the High Court.
While conducting religious lessons, he convinced his wives that he had ownership over his children, which included having sex with them, The Straits Times said.
Forty-three charges were levelled against the father, who preyed on his daughters when they were between 12 and 15 years old, from December 2003 to June 2005. The charges included rape, attempted rape and aggravated rape.
Two of the girls became pregnant and had abortions.
Justice Tay Yong Kwang on Thursday set Tuesday for sentencing.
The girls, now in the care of the ministry of community development, could not recollect the exact number of instances of abuse.
The incidents ‘were so numerous that they were hard-pressed to keep count, much less remember the exact specifics of each incident’, Lee was quoted as saying.
The man would send one of his wives to tell a daughter to go to their father’s bedroom, Lee said. He had sex with them even though the girls cried out in pain.
The eldest of the abused daughters reported her father to the police on June 24, 2005. He was arrested the next day.
The bespectacled defendant with greying hair pleaded guilty to nine of the charges. Tay said he will take the remaining counts into consideration in sentencing.
The prosecution asked the judge for a substantial prison sentence. The penalty for rape is a maximum of 20 years in jail and caning. The penalty for aggravated rape is at least eight years in jail and 12 strokes of the cane.