Cleric held after Bangladesh teen whipped to death
2nd February 2011
BANGLADESHI police arrested four people including a Muslim cleric today after a teenage girl, who was accused of having an extra-marital affair with her cousin, was whipped to death.
Fifteen-year-old Hena Begum died in hospital on Monday after a village court in the southern Bangladesh district of Shariatpur sentenced her to 100 lashes, said local police chief A.K.M Shahidur Rahman.
In conservative rural parts of Muslim-majority Bangladesh, rights groups say it is common for women to be publicly whipped for “crimes” such as adultery despite a ban on such religious punishments.
In some documented cases, rape victims have been flogged for being a “participant” in their sexual assault.