Phase one

An Islamic Somali court has sentenced a couple on charges of adultery. The young woman got stoned to death in a public square (a la the Saudi beheadings). And the man? He got away with only 200 lashes. Of course after the 200 lashes, he will wish he were dead, but that is not the point.

What they do when the stone a woman (men rarely, if ever get stoned, as we found out from cases in Pakistan) is that they bury her up to the shoulders, so that she can’t move around. Then they aim for her head. If they are in a particularly nasty and vengeful mood, they will use smaller stones, and she will die slowly. Some of them may believe that they will have a better chance at going to heaven if they do that. A few, if any, may think that she will more likely atone for her sin if she suffers more. Some are just plain sadists. If they feel more merciful then they will use large stones and she will die relatively faster. (see the photo).
Last year a thirteen year old girl was stoned: she was a victim of rape. The grown-up man who raped her was also given 100 lashes. Hopefully all 100 lashes were in the area of his crotch, but that is unlikely.

Islam is really vague on this punishment, which also existed in the Old Testament. The earlier Quran has verses that mention isolation and shunning, as well as the possibility of redemption.
Cheers, if you can
mhg


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