Iraqi teenage girl stoned to death for falling in love with a boy outside her religion.

[sema608]

I saw this heartbreaking story on CNN yesterday (US). OMG, I was at work listening to Bush's speech, listening about the rescue attempt for 2 lost whales, and then found myself WATCHING the gruesome clips of a Iraqi girl being stoned to death. I couldn't believe it. Several men dragged her out of her home, stoned her and took off her underwear and threw some jacket on her. People just watched as she was being murdered. The person videotaped the whole thing via his camera phone. How cruel can these people be? I know they consider this an "honor" crime, but how is this honor? Why is the punishment death for falling in love with someone outside her religion?

I believe the clips are on youtube. I think that's how CNN got a hold of it. They were saying it was such a public murder that maybe action will be taken this time. I don't know what to say except I'm just disgusted and saddened that such a thing happened. Has anyone seen this?

Here's the link to the CNN cover story:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/18/...ling/index.html

Well, CNN is doing a special tonight about the girl. I saw it on tv at work. It airs at 10 pm eastern if you want the 411 on the story. I have a feeling the channel will air the clips in the special.

I have no idea what happened to the boy. Honestly, it was ALL about the girl. The thing is I didn't even know girls were STILL being stoned. CNN said these crimes are kept hush hush, but for some reason it's like they WANTED us to see it.

The worst part was there was no escape for the girl. They ganged up on her and kept her in the middle and the circle of men just pounced on her. She tried to cover herself, but there were too many. The bystanders who did nothing were so close. There were so many who could have interfered to protect her yet, they stood by and watched. Even the guy with the camera phone was too interested in taping her final painful moments instead of trying to save her life.

Another interesting tidbit is that CNN said some security dragged her out. SECURITY? What? I wonder if this happened after school. The girl had a skirt and a blouse. She looked like she was wearing a school uniform. I'm not sure. It was just a few seconds before she lied on the ground lifeless. Oh man.

All I know is the girl wasn't supposed to fall in love with someone outside her religion and she paid the price for her freedom of choice. I don't remember what religion she is but it started with a K--Kurdi? I'm not sure. I just remembered Sunni because the name's simpler.

I tried not to watch this, but the tv is right in front of me with the sound up. The entire company has CNN. Even if I wanted to close my eyes and ears, this issue is not something I can ignore even if I try.

[Q Steph]

That's so horrible; humanity at its worst.

[SpiritualJunkie]

I can't believe anyone would have the nerve (I don't think that's even a strong enough word) to tape someone's death. WTH did CNN air this? They should have just talked about it. I feel like it's in really poor taste and disrespectful to this poor girl's memory to show people how she died.

This story reminds me of a news article I read a few years back of a girl who was murdered by her own mother when it was discovered that she was pregnant - except that the pregnancy was a result of a rape by one (or two? can't remember) brothers. It disgusts me that the victim was the one who suffered such harsh consequences rather than the perpetrators of the crime.

[Southofnowhere]

IMO people need to see that this kind of evil goes on. Just hearing about it is not enough.

[Q Steph]

Sad, but so true. Too many people like to tune stuff out, but you can't ignore what your own eyes see.

[SpiritualJunkie]

I knew someone was going to bring up that point and I still strongly disagree. Everything on television remains like some warped kind of reality unless someone actually sees it with their own eyes. What does CNN expect to get out of showing this death footage?

And if people really don't take news reports all that seriously, what is the point of print journalism?

[Q Steph]

I'm a print journalism major and sadly, people are too lazy to read at times. A visual is etched in the memory. When the twin towers fell on 9/11, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the airplanes fly into the buildings myself. Although, at a certain point, it does become over staturation.

[SpiritualJunkie]

Oh, cool..I'm involved with print journalism as well and that question is a little bothersome.

I think it depends on the amount of detail put into the article, not just if the article was accompanied by a picture. I remember reading that tiny article about the girl who was murdered by her mother for getting pregnant by her rapist brother...the article was not on the front page and I don't remember if it was accompanied by a photo or not but despite the fact that it could have been easily buried in the World News section, the way the article was written and its subject was enough to catch my attention. All I could think at the time was, "How is this not front page news???"