The death of 14-year-old Hena Begum in Bangladesh, after being publicly lashed by villagers under a sharia law ruling, is not unique. For years, local sharia courts have issued lashings and other punishments for women, although these courts are illegal under Bangladeshi law. Human rights groups say the government is afraid to prosecute those who carry out these punishments.

Hena Begum (pictured above, in one of her last pictures taken on her mobile phone) was accused of having an affair with a married cousin and was punished by a sharia court set up in her village of Chamta. A local Islamic cleric ordered the public lashing which took place last week. During the lashing, Hena collapsed and died in hospital.

Post-mortem
An initial post-mortem found no injury marks on her body, but after human rights groups in Bangladesh had asked the case to be taken to the High Court, a second post-mortem was carried out. This found Hena had died of internal bleeding, which prompted a fresh police inquiry.

Although the case has led to an international outcry against this kind of violence against young women and girls under sharia law, Hena’s case is not an isolated one.  Bangladesh is known as a moderate Islamic country where sharia rule is illegal, but in some parts of the country small hardline Islamic groups persist in using the strict laws.

Women
Human rights groups say it’s mostly women and girls who suffer from the local sharia courts.  It is rather common for women and girls to be publicly whipped for ‘crimes’ such as adultery, despite a Bangladesh High Court ruling last July which outlawed punishments issued under religious edict.

Some rape victims have even been lashed for being a ‘participant’ in their assault.
 

Human rights ambassador
The poor human rights record for women in Bangladesh was highlighted last year when Dutch human rights ambassador Arjan Hamburger visited the country as part of a UN fact-finding mission. In his report, Mr Hamburger noted that violence against women and girls is a major problem in Bangladesh and he urged the government to take the problem very seriously.

Mr Hamburger also said that a general change of attitude towards women in Bangladeshi society is vital to address this problem.

In Hena Begum’s case, several men who carried out the punishment have now been arrested, including the cousin with whom she had the alleged affair. The Islamic elder who presided over the sharia court is also in custody.

Apprehensive
Human rights groups say the government is apprehensive of prosecuting fundamentalist Islamic elders, as they do not wish to fall out of favour with their electorate in rural areas where these elders are generally accepted.