An Eye for an Eye?

[Cotillion]

"In Iran a woman has been assaulted with acid by a man who was supposedly in love with her, but was rejected. Her face has been disfigured and her eyesight has been significantly reduced to next-to blindness.

After the trial, the judges have concluded that, according to the Sharia, which is their legal system, the woman is allowed to exact her revenge onto the man by dripping acid into the eyes of him as well ( while he is sedated and in a controlled amount and enviroment ) or send him to jail and have him pay a certain amount of money, which he probably can not afford. Even though the judges urged her not to make use of her right to exact revenge she chose the etching. She doesn't feel that any time in jail or any amount of money can ease the suffering she has undergone as a consequence of the assault. This should also serve as an example for any similar cases, she thinks. According to the judges, the sole judgement has already awed a statistically significant amount of possible perpetrators, that there has been a noticeable decline in this crimesector.

The punishment has not yet been carried out, and is set to be on Saturday the 14th of May. Humanitarian organizations have tried to convince her with money, to forbear putting the man through the same road of pain she has been through, though not successfully thus far."

From: http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/0,1518,762508,00.html

I remembered this from a while ago. Couldn't find more info on if it was carried out or not, but that's not the point I'm trying to make.

What are your thoughts on her choice, and more importantly, the law that allows her to do this?

 

[Diana]

Honestly, in some cases I think it's totally fair. What sort of lunatic is going to assault someone with acid and totally disfigure them over being rejected. >> That's something crazy serious.

But I don't think "eye for an eye" should work for ALL cases. D: There's plenty of situations in the heat of the moment where people can be rehabilitated, or just server jail time, etc...

 

[unanun]

Two things:

Wow, they actually judged in favor of the woman!

Second, the tired old refrain is that revenge begets more revenge. I have no comment about this case as I am unsure of how to feel, but I am still in general a supporter of the death penalty.

 

[Alan]

I remembered this from a while ago. Couldn't find more info on if it was carried out or not, but that's not the point I'm trying to make.

What are your thoughts on her choice, and more importantly, the law that allows her to do this?

I read this last night...

She refused.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...ned_her_face_with_acid_from_similar_fate.html

An Iranian woman granted vengeance on the man who disfigured and blinded her has decided to turn the other cheek.

Ameneh Bahrami, who lost her sight after Majid Movahedi doused her with acid when she spurned his marriage proposal in 2004, chose to forgive him instead of allowing a doctor to place several drops of the corrosive chemical into one of his eyes.

The dramatic scene, aired on Iran's state television over the weekend, showed the 34-year-old woman standing over the weeping attacker.

"What do you want to do now?" the doctor asked, according to The Associated Press.

"I forgave him. I forgave him," she replied, saying she wished to spare him. (Continued)

 

[Elyd]

Wow, they actually judged in favor of the woman!

That was my first thought as well. Good thought, too.

It's... hard to make a blanket statement whether she should've done it, whether she shouldn't've. For me, forgiveness would have made me feel better than revenge, but I can't say the same for her. I can't say that everyone can forgive as easily as I can.

 

[Alan]

Wow, they actually judged in favor of the woman!

It's easy to say such a thing, from an outside looking in perspective. All we in America tend to hear is how bad Iran is. Funny that it's only the countries or territories we have a difference of opinion with that are bad, right?

Is Iran's legal system something that we as Americans don't understand? Certainly. After all, I'm no American legal expert, so how could I even begin to understand how Iran's legal system works?

Iran is a lot more free than the media in the western world makes them out to be, despite what we may perceive to be some pretty backwards thinking, legally speaking.

 

[MurderDeathKill]

I figured this thread would be about this:

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-20/...mnesty-international-saudi-arabia?_s=PM:CRIME

Amnesty International on Friday urged Saudi Arabian authorities not to paralyze a man as punishment for his having paralyzed someone else, allegedly during a fight.

The Saudi newspaper Okaz reported that the judge in the case had sent letters to several hospitals in Saudi Arabia asking if they could sever a man's spinal cord, as the man he allegedly stabbed had requested and, under sharia law, was his right to seek.

 

[Elyd]

It's easy to say such a thing, from an outside looking in perspective. All we in America tend to hear is how bad Iran is. Funny that it's only the countries or territories we have a difference of opinion with that are bad, right?

Actually, Alan, I would have the same reaction if this had happened in the U.S. Because women are always the ones to blame for the bad things that happen to them.

 

[xmelesiox]

As one who believes in death sentence over life in prison I think the eye for an eye treatment is fair. It would lower the amount of crime in general because only the true psychos would be willing to do these terrible acts knowing that the same thing could happen to them.

 

[Vay]

...server jail time...

Our sysadmin is a cruel warden.

 

[Fel of the Eternal Forest]

Diana is, in fact, a cruel warden.

Eye for an Eye, tooth for tooth. It's something I've always believed in. If someone were to attack someone, I believe that the assaulted party has every right to retaliate, if the attacker is found guilty in due process. It's something that obviously needs to be controlled, but I think that it has a good outcome in the idea of violence, theft, and murder; murder being avenged upon by a third party, of course. If some jackass took my eye, damn right I'd take his, before or after his prison sentence, it matters not. I also think serial rapists should get the shaft - literally.

Yeah, I'm pretty hardcore about it, but I think it is a justifiable way to beget punishment.