Saudi woman gets 200 lashes, 6 months jail for being raped by seven men

New Delhi: A Saudi woman has got 200 lashes and six months jail for being raped by seven men in the eastern Qatif province in 2006. The woman got into a car with a teenage boy she knew in high school, as she wanted to get back a picture of herself from him because she was going to marry some other man. While in a car with her male friend , two men got into the vehicle and drove them to a secluded area.She said she was raped there by seven men, three of whom also attacked her friend.The rapists received varying sentences, the harshest being five years in prison and 1,000 lashes. But the Saudi Arabia court has also sentenced this gang-rape victim for 90-lash in 2007 for violating the ban on women having contact with men who are not their relatives because as per Saudi justice syatem woman must be accompanied by a male guardian — typically relative — at all times in public.The Saudi justice system is based on the Islamic religious legal code known as Sharia.When the woman's defense lawyer protested the sentence, calling for some compassion for this teenager who was sexually assaulted by seven men, the Saudi General Court increased her punishment to 200 lashes and a six-month jail term.The woman's lawyer, Abdul Rahman al-Lahem, reached out to the media. The court has since banned him from further defending the woman, confiscating his license and summoning him to a disciplinary hearing later this month.The justice ministry implied the victim's sentence was increased because she had spoken out to the press. “For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows to appeal without resorting to the media,” said the statement carried on the official Saudi Press Agency.This gang-rape victim belongs to the Shiite Muslim minority in a country dominated by Sunni Muslims.The upholding of a decision to punish the victim triggered international outcry.However, the Saudi judiciary stood by its decision. “The Ministry of Justice welcomes constructive criticism, away from emotions,” it said in a statement.The statement also said that the “charges were proven” against the woman for having been in a car with a strange male, and repeated criticism of her lawyer for talking “defiantly” about the judicial system, saying “it has shown ignorance.”According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, this sentence “not only sends victims of sexual violence the message that they should not press charges, but in effect offers protection and impunity to the perpetrators.”This is the first case that burst onto the international scene and states that word “justice” is a misnomer in Saudi Arabia law.