COL Report: Young love and false rape in Kashmir

A few days after Aadil married Nazihah, and the Kashmir district of India, he was arrested and thrown in jail -- for rape. Aadil's only crime was marriage. He would spend nearly two years in jail until he was bailed out and his case went to court.

KASHMIR, INDIA (Catholic Online) - Aadil's fate is somewhat common in the relatively conservative Sharia-governed region. Parents upset that their daughters have eloped or turned away from arranged marriages, will routinely accuse the new husbands of rape and have them imprisoned.
Meanwhile, genuine cases of rape and molestation go virtually unreported because of the stigma attached to being the victim of such crimes.

Throughout all of Kashmir's districts, Srinagar has the dubious distinction of having the greatest number of reported rapes. That number stands at 120 reported between 2006 and 2010.

Throughout the entire Kashmir region, hundreds of cases are waiting to be tried with only a handful based on actual supporting evidence. In most cases, the accusations and arrests are the result of vengeful parents.

In the case of Aadil and Nazihah, the couple had carried on a relationship for several years. They decided to marry against the wishes of Nazihah's parents. To take revenge, her parents went to the police and accused Aadil of rape. Despite the complete lack of evidence, police arrested and imprisoned Aadil anyway.

Aadil was charged with kidnapping and rape. He spent nearly two years in jail.

Now, the trials have begun and the couple must sit as adversaries in a district court room.

Originally, the couple explained, they tried to exonerate themselves by presenting their marriage certificate to the police. An unsympathetic officer simply tore it up.

Later, Nazihah's parents had a change of heart and decided to come forward and tell the truth so Aadil could be released. Unfortunately, changing the story after an accusation has been made is illegal, and would have subjected Nazihah's parents to prosecution. The parents remain silent.

The couple has now lived together for three years, and they have an eight-month-old son but they have admitted to reporters that the legal proceedings have taken a toll on their marriage.

According to authorities, the actual number of false accusations probably ranges well into the thousands, with many individuals falsely imprisoned, some for very long periods of time.

Ironically, Sharia law instructs that women should have equal rights with men with respect to marriage. Women should therefore be allowed to marry according to their wishes. Still, regional practice remains at odds with Islamic law, and the locals would much rather keep with their tradition of arranging marriages.

Of course, this tradition means that parents can continue to cry rape if they don't like a potential suitor and use the local justice system to punish the couple.

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Activists are working to stamp out this unfortunate practice which has the potential to destroy families and ruin lives. So far, no discernible progress has been made and the accusations and arrests continue.

*Catholic Online has changed the names of the couple in this story to protect their anonymity.

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