India: Islamic village council orders woman to marry father-in-law who raped her

Off Our Backs, Jul/Aug 2005 by Verma, Priya, Schoenleber, Sara, Douglas, Carol Anne, Pleatman, Rachel, Et al

LUCKNOW-A woman raped by her father-in-law has been ordered by the local village council, composed of Muslim clerics, to marry her fatherin-law and treat her husband as her son. The clerics say the rape annulled the woman's marriage. The woman and her husband have five children. The woman's father-in-law has been arrested and is in jail.

The All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board, which oversees the rights of Muslim women, the Awaz-e-Niswan, a women's organization, and the National Commission of Women, have all protested the ruling.

"We will mobilise public opinion against this fatwa," Hasina Khan of the Awaz-e-Niswan said. "We want justice for the woman," says NCW head Girija Vyas.

-info from BBC News 7/1/05