Last month, a 14-year-old Bangladeshi girl from the Shariatpur district near Dhaka died just a few days after receiving a public whipping, in an incident that has shocked the nation.
Hena Begum allegedly conducted an affair with a married man who was also her cousin, an offence under traditional Sharia law, after which the man’s family members are reported to have then beaten up the girl. The girl was then convicted of the offence by the village court consisting of elders and clerics, who issued a fatwa (religious ruling) that required her to receive 80 lashes of a whip. Six days later, Miss. Begum died in hospital.
Four people including a Muslim Cleric were arrested at the time, and police were tracking down a further 14 people in connection with the incident.
The girl’s body was subsequently exhumed, and a post-mortem examination undertaken, which revealed that she had bled to death. Begum’s father, who was ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 Taka (around £430) for his daughter’s crimes, called for those responsible for her death to be punished.
The vast majority of the Bangladesh population of 160 million is Muslim, and villages carrying out their own religious rulings are not uncommon throughout the nation, according to activists, despite being outlawed last year by the High Court. There have been two recorded fatalities reported linked to Sharia Law since that ruling, including the case of a 40-year-old woman from the district of Rajshahi who died following a public caning for similar crimes in December 2010.