Asking For It
Not much surprises me when it comes to the behaviour of religious fanatics.
But I was shocked when I read an article about a Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia - Sheikh Abdullah Daoud - called for female babies to wear Islamic veils to deter child molesters.
"Whenever the girl is an object of desire, the parents have duty to cover her up with a hijab," said the Sheikh - who said that child abuse was rife in Saudi Arabia and that, as a result, babies should be dressed more conservatively.
Apparently the Sheikh's comments were made last year - but went viral on the internet recently forcing other Saudi religious figures to condemn his words.
The row has blown up after another leading cleric - Fayhan al-Ghamdi - raped and tortured his five-year old daughter - Lamam al-Ghamdi - using a cane and electric cable to inflict terrible wounds - unbelievably after doubting the child's virginity.
Fayhan al-Ghamdi is apparently something of a celebrity in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia - the former home of Osama bin Laden of course - where he has appeared regularly on television to discuss religious observance and social affairs.
Social workers reported that the celebrity cleric's daughter had been repeatedly raped - and her body badly burnt.
The girl's mother is divorced from the father and believes that the cleric should be put to death for his unspeakable crimes - yet reports last week claimed that Fayhan al-Ghamdi had been freed from prison after paying £31,000 in blood money - a common practice in parts of the middle-east.
But the Saudi government stepped in and, for the moment at least, the cleric is still in prison - awaiting trial for murder - though does need to be said that women and girl children are often treated as 'second class' citizens in that part of the world.
Saudi human rights activists say that stepping in when a scandal hit the headlines is not enough - that fundamental reform of the kingdom’s antiquated judicial system was needed if women and children are to be protected from abuse.
Eman al-Najfan - a prominent women's rights activist in Riyadh said:
“This is just an example of the sort of case that happens all the time in Saudi Arabia. We have no sexual harassment laws, no child abuse laws. Cases are left to the discretion of the police and the judge. If a woman reports a sexual crime they don’t investigate it. They call the religious police and pressure her to drop it.”
What more can you say or do - other than admire the courage of someone who refuses to be browbeaten and cowed by religious fundamentalism.
