from...http://undhimmi.com

An 18-year-old woman was flogged in public outside the Justice Building [in Malé] and sentenced to a year of house arrest today for having extra-marital sex.

The woman received 100 lashes after confessing to having extra-marital sex with two men on separate occasions earlier this year.

She was taken to hospital after the lashing; although an official at Criminal Court said she had tripped on a step and hurt her leg, Judge Abdulla Mohamed, chief judge of the Criminal Court, said she fainted.

Abdulla said the courts could not prosecute the two men as Rahma was unable to provide any details about the first man and the second man denied his involvement.

Latest statistics from the department of judicial administration’s website reveal that in 2006, out of 184 lashed for extra-marital sex, 146 were women.

Speaking to Minivan News MP for Galolhu Eva Abdulla said, “It seems a bit disproportionate considering there always has to be two people involved.”

She further pointed to other forms of corporal punishment in Sharia law, which were not practiced in the Maldives.

“We don’t cut off the hands of all those who steal and we don’t implement the death sentence so why do we continue with these very inhumane practices, especially when the statistics show that the victims are women,” she said.

But, Judge Abdulla said more women were sentenced than men because while men were able to deny the crime, pregnancy often implicated women.

“A man after making this problem will go and maybe the woman will have relations with more than one man and won’t know who was responsible or the man denies it,” he said.

Without a confession, extra-marital sex cases are very difficult to prosecute, he said, as they required the testimony of four witnesses.

While she did not comment on this specific case, Jeehan Mahmoud from the Human Rights Commission Maldives (HRCM) said the Maldives was signatory to both the Convention Against Torture and the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.

Under these international human rights instruments, any act which causes severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, and is used as a punishment is prohibited.

Judge Abdulla said the goal was not to cause injury to the offender and the person administering the punishment was not to raise his arm higher than his shoulder.

Flogging is dispensed with a leather paddle called a duraa in the Maldives.

On why floggings were public, Abdulla said the method was prescribed in the Qur’an and its purpose was to act as a deterrent.

“Because the public should know this lady or man have done these things and they will stay away from these things,” he said.

Speaking to Minivan News today, documentary filmmaker Ali Rasheed, said he hoped both the HRCM and the gender department in the health ministry would condemn the act.

While both Rasheed and Eva said they were “shocked” to hear about the lashing, Abdulla said public floggings were common in the Maldives, and the last one was carried out on 30 June.

Further, around 200 people found guilty of extramarital sex were awaiting the punishment.

Rasheed, who has made two films about violence against women, said an interview with one woman, who had been sentenced to flogging, revealed the practice left behind indelible psychological scars.

He added most Islamic countries had abolished the practice.

“People who support these kinds of acts will immediately bring religion into it and then the public are too afraid to speak,” said Rasheed. “I am sure most Maldivians wouldn’t support inhumane acts like this.”

This story provided us with an opportunity to continue with our aim to expose the ‘Lesser-known Jihad’, i.e. fanaticism and violence in the name of Allah; in places most people would either never suspect, or have ever heard about.

OK, so we’re maybe stretching a point a little here. There isn’t actually a Jihad per se in the Maldives – but only because there doesn’t need to be. In these lush, upscale jewels of the Indian Ocean, Sharia is the law of the land and has been for over 800 years (what little actual land there is – the Maldives consists of almost 1200 stunningly beautiful tropical atolls with barely anything between them and the ocean); and tourism is pretty much the only industry.

The country’s history is varied, after being originally settled by Indian sub-continent fisherman, then Tamils and Sinhalese; the islands were Bhuddist until the 12th Century, at which time Islam took hold. They were also a part of the British Empire until gaining Independence in 1960s; although they are a member of the Commonwealth and have been since 1982.

Today, as Sharia demands, no non-Muslim can become a Maldivian citizen and no other religion than Islam can be practised. So behind the five-star pampering, lurk undercurrents of violence, supremacism, misogyny and repression – just as in any other Muslim country.

So what we’d like you to consider is this. The next time you think of taking a holiday here (or hear of a friend or relative that may be considering a relaxing break or a romantic honeymoon in the Maldives – think about the 18-year old girl who collapsed and was rushed to hospital after being thrashed in public 100 times by the state judicial system, for having sex before she was married - despite the Maldives being a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

Think about the fact that, whilst these people are happy to take your kuffar money, they would never, ever let you live in their land, nor practise your faith there.

The reason? Because behind the holiday smiles, Maldivian Muslims believe, as their faith instructs them; that you are inferior and are only fit to be subjugated.

[Main story: Minivan Maldives News]