Acid attack victim invokes Islamic retribution

[bicker]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28217429/

I don't know what I feel about this, other than horrified at the original crime and how the victim has been treated.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Well, I can't say that I can agree with the "punishment." It's just too different from my western concepts, I guess.

Does he deserve to be punished? Of course. Perhaps paying the victim a financial renumeration (one that would allow her to live safely?) for the rest of her life would be more in keeping with what he had done, and what it has cost her?

The laws and customs of the country though, are so far removed from my frame of reference that I have a difficult time trying to decide what I am subjecting to my own value based judgment and what I intellectually think about a given situation.

 

[bicker]

I share your quandary regarding imposition of our Western bias.

I cannot imagine that anyone could ever make enough money in their life so as to provide same as renumeration for inflicting blindness and disfigurement, not to mention the pain and suffering applicable at several stages of the victim's experience (the actual attack, for starters!) And even if there was such an amount of money and someone could make that much, doesn't that tie justice to affluence in a manner inconsistent with practically any society's standards? Is there any society or belief system that declares that acceptable? Don't get me wrong; there is a place for civil lawsuits. However, that's between the victim and the attacker. I don't believe that anyone would consider it acceptable for society to routinely dispense justice with regard to assaults on society's laws (i.e., criminal justice) biased by affluence (of either accused or victim, for that matter). "Equal justice under the law," is how American standards describe it, but is that just an Western standard?

 

[lewdyan1]

The whole thing is just incredibly sad!

 

[beckmrk04]

Oh, that story made me cry. It's so awful.

I don't know how I feel about the punishment. Part of me feels like "two wrongs don't make a right" but the other part of me feels like maybe this man will understand some of the hell he has put this woman through.

I don't know the answer.

I do know that Iran is getting worse, and it breaks my heart for the women there who are struggling with violence, sexism, and unequality. The whole situation is terrible.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

bicker, I guess the financial support for the victim for life, would be a means to keep her safe (in the sense that she would have shelter and food...). I didn't mean to suggest that it would compensate in any manner for the loss of sight and disfigurement. I've never quite understood how money can make up for those sorts of terrible things. Money can keep her fed and sheltered though, and perhaps buy her training for learning to live with her disability.

No easy or correct answer for this one, and as we acknowledge, everything is filtered from our western viewpoint.

What is more disturbing is that this is not the only incident of this magnitude that can be found in that society (and equally as frightening ones in any society).

Moving to the impossible...changing society is what is warranted. Changing the belief systems...that leads to changing the influence of religion upon the daily lives, and laws of any given country...and there we are again...full circle.

 

[LoraJ]

"An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind" - Mahatma Gahndi

 

[LakeAriel]

This is a terrible tragedy but isn't it clear the attacker is mentally ill? What happened to this young woman happens here in the US also. Spurned lovers, especially unstable ones, kill on a daily basis. In the US the killer can then be executed. No need to go to what happened in Iran to seek opinions.
I do not believe in capital punishment, nor do I advocate blinding a mentally ill man. I hope this victim will reverse herself and find forgiveness, though I am not sure I could. Regardless, I would never deliberately have acid poured into another humans eye, unless of course I had lost my mind also.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

LakeAriel, I respectfully suggest that your thought of MI is a western construct given the situation. I believe that the violence perpetrated on this victim is more an offshoot of a religious based society that allows actions (that western society deems violent) that are rooted in a concept of "man is more valuable" than woman.

I do not mean at all, that any sect of Islam would condone what has happened. What I am saying (and very poorly) is that society in that area of the world does have religious based and sanctioned violent actions as a basis and therefore that atmosphere of acceptance gives rise to other acts of violence.

Bah. I'm not being clear at all, but I hope some of what I am trying to say is coming through.

I don't believe it's MI so much as it (the violent act) is a distorted offshoot of the fundamental religious based society in which they both live.

 

[Free4Life11]

As badly as I feel for her, the thought of putting acid in his eyes is too much. To me, that would be sinking to his level. I believe he should be imprisoned.

 

[Keli]

It does seem clear to me that this man is mentally ill. Are there no concessions in their criminal proceedings for that contingency? Of course they were not willing to protect the victim in the first place until a crime had been committed. There obviously are no anti-stalking laws in Iran.

 

[LakeAriel]

We only passed our own anti-stalking law in 1990 so that does not surprise me. I couldn't vote either, as there was not a choice for confinement in a mental institution.


http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=32514

 

[eliza61]

Wow this was a hard one. Both Gahndi and Dr. King were against violence as a form of retribution but Lord knows both of these gentlemen are greater guys than me.

I often admire victims of horrible, horrible crimes that forgive their criminals, not sure if I could.
I voted imprisonment (absolutely no chance to get out what so ever) with the understanding that there is no way for me to get around my "western doctrine" of law.

 

[Briarmom]

Acid all over his face/eyes/body the same way as the victim works for me. In fact, I'd like them to use an eye-dropper to accomplish this task.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I can't imagine living in this type of society, but my gut sense would be to support the victim's choice (as barbaric as I think it is) because she understands life there better than I do, so I accept her rationale given they way things just are in Iran (though I'm not sure it will in fact be a deterrent). Women are subject every day to horrible crimes, punishment, and even death for minor offenses while the men involved often get off scot free. Every time I hear a story like this it sickens me. What this woman has been through is unfathomable, and there have been many, many more who've suffered similar fates and worse. If women speak out about it they are often murdered.

My thought to the punishment, though, is why only 5 drops?

I also think it's completely obnoxious that the victim and his family are questioning the validity of her blindness. It sounds like one of her eyes exploded from infection, yet they're not sure she's telling the truth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbXyImU-uw0

 

[ntsammy5]

Barbaric but effective