On April 7, 2007, Du'a Khalid Aswad was brutally murdered - executed by stoning - by the male members of her community. Her crime? Falling in love with the wrong man. An honour - or rather dishonour - killing. I am unable to bring myself to write the details; they are too agonising. Please go to this link if you have the stomach for it.
Here is a slighly less gruesome account that aired on CNN. The unexpurgated version was censored and removed by YouTube.
A final irony to her story is this. The civil authorities dug up her mutilated body from its unmarked grave. An autopsy revealed - among other things - that this filthy slut that had so dishonoured her family and her faith was a virgin.
I know that I can sometimes be a bit preachy, but there will be no preaching today. The facts speak for thems
elves.I will note, however, that my Sitemeter informs me that the most used link on this blog is the one on the widget to stop 'honour' killings. If you haven't yet, please look at the 'honour' killing widget off in the right hand column.
I am very happy and pleased that I belong to a religion and a community where our women and girls are valued equally with our men and boys, with all the same rights, obligations and freedoms. I am very happy that none of our children will ever be killed for loving the 'wrong' person.
These photos, as well as the images in the videos were made by witnesses enjoying the spectacle. The large concrete block by Ms. Aswad's head in the bottom picture is the instrument of her death after about a half hour's torture.
