An eye for an eye…. Or noses and ears?

Claire wrote on her blog about two brothers from Pakistan. Ammanat Aliand and Sher Mohammed followed Fazeelat Bibi, a young woman whom they knew very well, home from work one day. Bibi had rejected Mohammed’s offer of marriage and the two men along with three others attacked Bibi, strangling her with a wire. When they thought she was dead they chopped off her ears and nose. They said it was to ‘set an example.’
The two men were sentenced to life in prison and fined 700,000 rupees ($8,300) to pay for the victim’s medical bills. Also, the court ordered the two men to have their own ears and noses chopped off. A high court must approve this sentence, however, and a doctor has to examine them to make sure that they will not die from this. This heavy sentence is in support of anti-terrorism in Pakistan.

Claire states that she feels this sentence is too rough of a punishment and I have to agree. Terrorism is truly a state of mind. A terrorist is a person who is influenced by violence and uses violence to promote their personal beliefs; therefore, if the government in Pakistan wants to stop terrorism, they really shouldn’t become terrorists of their own kind. The article that Claire used as a source for her blog mentioned that the high court has a history of turning down sentences like this and I sincerely hope they turn this one down as well. Aliand and Mohammed can be punished in nonviolent ways. That is the kind of ‘example’ that the government of Pakistan should set.


Article Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/22/pakistan.harsh.justice/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

http://claireilliesblog.blogspot.com/

Picture Source:

http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/human-rights-ads-20-capital-punishment/