Saturday, February 25, 2006

Wise Men in Sudan

Well, the following looks like a funny story, but it is of interest in the way justice is delivered. Is the “wise men” system, better than the one with elected judges in the US? (See also a similar story about Hudood Ordinaces- The Crime And Punishment For Zina in Pakistan. http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/apro/aproweb.nsf/pages/svaw_hudoo )

A Sudanese man has been forced to take a goat as his "wife", after he was caught having sex with the animal. The goat's owner, Mr Alifi, said he surprised the man with his goat and took him to a council of elders. They ordered the man, Mr Tombe, to pay a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($50) to Mr Alifi. "We have given him the goat, and as far as we know they are still together," Mr Alifi said. Mr Alifi, Hai Malakal in Upper Nile State, told the Juba Post newspaper that he heard a loud noise around midnight on 13 February and immediately rushed outside to find Mr Tombe with his goat. "When I asked him: 'What are you doing there?', he fell off the back of the goat, so I captured and tied him up". Mr Alifi then called elders to decide how to deal with the case. "They said I should not take him to the police, but rather let him pay a dowry for my goat because he used it as his wife," Mr Alifi told the newspaper. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4748292.stm)

1 comment:

  1. An interpretation that occurred to me, and one that takes out some of the fun part, is the possible value the given society attributes to the goat. That on the side, I think it is very interesting an eye-opening story one of many that we need to hear in Greece in order to open up a little.

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