On the Rape of Children

There has been much media 'noise' about a supposed case of rape of a young girl in the Haredi community of Betar Illit.

If you really want a story on religious fundamentalism and sex, try this:-

The Saudi royal family has intervened to block the release of a ‘celebrity’ preacher accused of raping, torturing and killing his five-year-old daughter.

Fayhan al-Ghamdi was set to be released after agreeing to pay “blood money” to the mother of his daughter Lama, who suffered multiple injuries including a crushed skull, broken back, broken ribs, a broken left arm and extensive bruising and burns. Social workers say she had also been repeatedly raped and burnt.

Al-Ghamdi, who regularly appears on Saudi television, admitted using a cane and cables to inflict the injuries after doubting his five-year-old daughter’s virginity and taking her to a doctor, according to the campaign group Women to Drive.

The case caused a scandal in Saudi Arabia, with public calls for the cleric to be put to death.

Despite the country’s notoriously strict legal system however, fathers cannot be executed for murdering their children, in the same way husbands cannot be executed for murdering their wives.

Rather than getting the death penalty or receiving a long prison sentence for the crime, Al-Ghamdi served only a few months in jail before a judge ruled the prosecution could only seek ‘blood money’.

Always keep things in proportion, in addition to whether the stories are true or not.

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