Flogging women to death was common in Maldives: Pyrard
Posted By Hilath
From Simon Shareef:
Francois Pyrard’s account of his time in the Maldives is a treasure trove of exquisite record of events that paint a colourful portrait of the 17th century Dhivehin, their customs, culture and life serving a king under Islamic law. Pyrard was stranded in the Maldives and was kept close to the king in Male’ for 5 years from 1602 to 1607.
Presented here are abstracts from one of the more enlightening chapters that shed light on the law of the land regarding adultery and homosexuality. The text has been annotated (only slightly and within brackets) and sectioned into paragraphs by me to increase readability.
The following account portray a people not that different to today. And certainly not different in terms of how justice was served disproportionately between the two sexes. The humiliation visited upon women and the sleaze of men and corruption of those in authority exists even today.
Traveling Arab jurists and legal scholars (such as Ibn Batuta) had great influence on the practical application of the law and punishment back in those days – dishing out their unique brand of violent misogyny as we shall see here. How this kind of law was totally against the genetically ingrained nature of the Dhivehi is evident. Even today. Full story
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Related story: International Women’s Day: Murder, rape, and torture of Maldivian women
The Maldives state is not only showing impunity towards the spread of misogyny and violence against women children it is, in fact, perpetrating it. According to statistics from the Maldives judiciary, 174 people were convicted of zina or fornication in 2006, and sentenced to public flogging. An overwhelming majority of those sentenced, 146, were women, 19 of who were under 18 years of age. In the same year, seven women, including three minors, were convicted of giving birth out of wedlock. There is no question that institutionalized violence against women and children is condoned and carried out in the Maldives.
When Minivan News broke the story about the shocking flogging statistics, the religious right held a protest against the online newspaper and called for the deportation of its editor Mariyam Omidi. The judiciary has since removed the statistics from its website. Read more from Maldives Dissent
[...] lifetime of severe social stigma and ostracism, as well as the added pain and humiliation of public flogging by the long arms of Maldivian [...]