The plight of Amina

A couple of days ago the hash tag #RIPAmina was trending on twitter. I was curious as to what it was about so I clicked on it and what i found was highly depressing.

The hash tag was about a 16 year old Moroccan girl who had been raped and forced to marry her rapist by the judge and her fathers consent. Not able to live with her rapist husband she committed suicide by ingesting poison. 

I felt a mix of tumultuous emotions. Anger, depression, frustration and sadness. Sad because Amina's case is one case out of hundreds which takes place in the Muslim/Arab world because of some peoples cultural extreme warped understanding of the concept of honour. Not sanctioned by religion as some would like to believe and in fact, sometimes very opposite to the dictates of Islam.

Why do such unjust laws exist in our countries? According to the Moroccan penal code a rapist is acquitted if he offers to marry the victim. From what basis is this logical or just in any way? Why do victims of rape go for trauma therapy if this isn't such a heinous act. This law is highly insensitive and belittles the crime of rape.

Islamically if a rapist is caught, he should be executed or given a hundred lashes with banishment for one year. The victim should not be blamed. I don't understand the mentality some cultures have of blaming the woman of committing a crime she did not do.  Forcing her to marry her rapist is sending her to her own death. Like I tweeted when I heard about the case, I have to ask, "I wonder if the judge who forced her to marry her rapist would rule the same for his daughters.” 

Chaloun told Tunisia Live that women in Morocco are “in a position of guilt” in the case of rapes. It is unacceptable for a woman to lose her virginity by any means, even force. If she does, Chaloun said, her family wants as little noise made about it as possible, which is why the marriage option is available- to prevent scandal and shame to the family name.

  Source

Disgustingly enough it is the mother that was the force behind the marriage, insisting on saving her "family honour" at the risk of her daughters life.

In the story told by Amina's parents, it becomes clear that the mother was the primary force behind her daughter's marriage, which was then sanctioned by a judge and the law which permits underage marriages to "resolve" rape cases.

Source

We need to bring attention to this mentality within our societies and try to change it. Is what society or the neighbours think of much more concern than the suffering of our daughters? Should we only wake up in outcry when these victims kill themselves?