Author:
Publication: Zenit.org
Date: February 13, 2002
A judge will investigate a complaint
by women's groups against an imam whose book gives advice to men on how
to beat a woman without leaving any traces.
Jordi-Lluís de Prada Hernández,
titular of Barcelona's Court of Instruction No. 29, agreed to investigate
the charge brought by numerous women's associations in July 2000 against
Imam Mohammed Kamal Mostafa of Fuengirola.
The judge has summoned the accused
imam, or community religious leader, because he believes Mostafa's book
"Woman in Islam" might be "a provocation to physical and psychic violence
against a specific group of individuals (i.e., married women)."
The judge suspects the imam might
have committed the offense of justifying discriminatory violence for reasons
of sex and family situation.
In his book, the imam recommends
that women be beaten in "specific parts of the body, such as the feet and
hands, being sure to use a rod that is not too thick; that is, it should
be fine and light, so that it does not leave scars or bruises."
The strikes should be "strong and
hard, because the objective is to make the woman suffer psychologically
and not humiliate and mistreat her physically," the book adds.
