“Repentance Repentance.”
Those are the words that mentally ill Atefeh Rajabi cried out in staccato shouts all the way from her prison cell to the gallows where she was finally hung from the noose at 6 o’clock in the morning.
It obviously did not matter that she cried out the required terms to appeal for mercy. The authorities saw to it that she would be an example to others not to commit crime.
She was dragged screaming from her cell. Iranian Muslim militia manhandled her to the rope in the town square. The judge had pronounced that she deserved death. In fact, he appeared there at the gallows in order to have the pleasure of lacing the rope around the young girl’s neck. Then he personally gave the sign for the crane driver to complete the cruel act.
Atefeh was left with nothing else but to “kick and scream” as she was left “dangling for 45 minutes from the arm of the crane as the crowd” watched, according to CAGE via http://www.acage.org/news/?day=07242006&id=0000
What was her offense?
She was found guilty of “’acts incompatible with chastity’ by having sex with an unmarried man, even though friends say Atefeh was in such a fragile mental state that she wasn’t in a position to say no.”
Judge Haji Rezaii concluded otherwise. This was in the face of international law that states that only adults age 18 and older can be executed. Further, such law stipulates that courts “have a duty to children and the mentally ill.”
This is Sharia law in Islam. This is the law that Muslims ask to be ensconced in free societies when moving about the globe. This is the law dictated by the killing and maiming passages of the Koran.
Every year about 100 persons, some being children, are executed as Atefeh was put to death. Actually the numbers are higher according to human rights agencies who know that many executions are unreported.
Females in Muslim geographies are regarded worse than dung, being beaten and often murdered by knife or bullet. In addition, they are consigned to wearing body-covering fabric so as to hide their identity and personality. They are not afforded an education, not permitted a vocation, and are consigned to their houses unless given permission by males within the clan.
“Life was never easy for Atefeh, who was brought up in the industrial town of Neka, 250 miles from Tehran and close to the Caspian Sea. Her mother died when she was a child and her father Ghasseem, a heroin addict, left her grandparents to bring her up. She suffered from bi-polar disorder, which led to severe mood swings from hyperactivity to depression. Worried parents told their children to stay away from her - something many regret now.
"’Perhaps we should have helped her instead,’ said Hamid. ‘I think the death of her mother had a devastating effect. Before that, she was a normal girl. Her mother was everything to her. After she died, there was no one to look after her.
“Mina, a childhood friend, said Atefeh was abused by a close relative. ‘She never dared talk about it with an adult,’ said Mina. ‘If she had told her teacher they'd have called her a whore. Tell the police? They lock you up and rape you.’
“Atefeh first appeared in court, accused of having sex with an unmarried man at 14. Over the next two years she was accused of the same crime with different men. They denied it and were sentenced to the lash and then released. But Atefeh pleaded guilty and each time received 100 lashes and a prison term. Mina said: ‘Atefeh sometimes talked about what these “moral” Islamic policemen did to her while she was in jail. She still had nightmares about that. Atefeh said her mood swings made it easy for men to take advantage of her, and that most of her lovers were in the security force.’"
“Two of them were members of the anti-vice militia. They encouraged other men to sign statements saying Atefeh had engaged in vice, and even claimed she had AIDS. It was when Atefeh appeared before Judge Rezaii for a fourth time that she lost her temper - and also her life. In a rage she tore off her hi jab - a headscarf - and told the judge she had been raped and it was his duty to punish her tormentors, not their victim. Rezaii told her she would hang for her ‘sharp tongue’ and that he would put the noose around her neck himself. It became a personal crusade as he traveled to Tehran and convinced the Supreme Court to uphold his verdict.”
