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Alleged honour killing angers Tunisians
 [MAGHAREBIA] Horror over the death of a 13-year-old girl will bring Tunisians to the streets next week for a silent march.Demonstrators on June 19th will trek from Mohammed V Avenue to the Women's Affairs Ministry in Tunis to commemorate the life of Eya Laaroussi El Abed. The Tunis teenager was buried Monday (June 9th) after an 11 day struggle to survive third degree burns. The father of the middle school student allegedly
The victim's mother said that her daughter always quarrelled with her father and would sometimes threaten to escape from home because of restrictions on her movements. When Laaroussi's father saw her with her schoolmate, "he thought that his daughter had planned to elope with that boy," the mother said. "He rushed to her, violently beat her in the street in front of people and dragged her to a deserted building where he set her body ablaze. He left her there facing death without any regard for her pleas and cries," she explained.
"The original principle in relation between a father and a daughter is mercy, love, and compassion, following the example of Prophet Mohammed (PTUI!) who said, 'You're like a shepherd, and each one of you is responsible for their dependents,' " Imam Chiheb Telliche said. "In this way, the parents are responsible for their children both before God and the law," the preacher added. He explained that regardless of how society expects young people to behave, "such cases shouldn't be dealt with violently; rather, they should be cared for and raised up based on dialogue." "Our Islamic faith prohibits the killing of human soul," he said. "This case is strange to our society."
"I cried when I saw her picture on websites," 20-year old Marwa Moussa told Magharebia. "I thanked God because my parents understand this stage of my life, and know all my male friends," she said. She added, "Parents should advise their children and raise them right, and in this way, they won't fall in the trap of prohibited behaviours."
The father must be punished for his crime, she added. "This incident is frankly strange in Tunisia and we can't consider it to be a phenomenon," 25-year-old Youssef Chawech agreed, noting that the father was "psychologically sick, as per some of the neighbours". In his turn, Mohammed Abdellaoui, 54, said, "I have two daughters and they have friends and schoolmates." "They go out with some friends, with my knowledge, of course, or the knowledge of their mother because at their age (they're aged 14 and 17) it's only natural for them to have friends," he told Magharebia. Adolescents "must live their age naturally", he said, because "it's natural for girls to have a close friend, but in a reasonable way as per our religion and the customs of our society." "Dialogue between family members, especially mother and daughter, is very important so girls don't do shameful things without their family's knowledge," he added. Posted by: Fred 2014-06-14 |
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