October , 2006
Qaum or country?
In 2005, Imrana Bibi of Charthawal village in UP was raped by her father-in-law. A year later, a Muzaffarnagar sessions court has now sentenced her rapist, Ali Mohamad to ten years in jail. In Charthawal village, the court judgement is more or less irrelevant. Neighbours say the rape incident was a property dispute. Others say Imrana was of loose character and even entertained her brother-in-law and still others allege that there was an inappropriate relationship between Imrana and her father in law. In the cacophony of voices the loudest voice in the Imrana case has been, as usual, the voice of the clergy. In 2005, the Deoband dar ul uloom said since Imrana had been raped by her father-in-law, she was now her husband's mother and could not return to her husband. Today, some clerics still say that a raped woman is a criminal, she is haraam, and cannot under....




More about Sagarika Ghose
Sagarika Ghose has been a journalist for 20 years, starting her career with The Times of India, then moving to become part of the start-up team of Outlook magazine, subsequently joining The Indian Express as Senior Editor. She was anchor of the flagship BBC World programme Question Time India before moving to CNN-IBN as prime time anchor and Deputy Editor. She is the anchor of the award-winning flagship debate programme Face The Nation on CNN-IBN. She is also a columnist for the Hindustan Times. She has won numerous awards including FICCI Media Achiever Award and Gr8-ITA Award for Excellence in Journalism. She is a graduate in History from St Stephen's College and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University where she gained an MA and M.Phil in History and International Relations. She is the author of two acclaimed novels The Gin Drinkers and Blind Faith, both published worldwide by HarperCollins Publishers.



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