grendel
18-04-2003, 18:32
Spek De roep om emancipatie van de islam is op zich wel voor te stellen. Maar in onze westerse cultuur ontbreekt het helaas evenveel aan respect voor andersdenkenden. ----- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Horror at desecration of woman's body Staff and agencies Friday April 18, 2003 Islamic organisations and family members today told of their horror at the discovery of the body of a Muslim woman in a hospital mortuary covered with rashers of bacon. The Metropolitan police's racial crime task force is investigating the desecration of the body of the 65-year-old grandmother, who had died from cancer, at Hillingdon hospital in west London. It is strictly against the Muslim religion to touch or eat pork. The crime was discovered as staff arranged for the body to be viewed by family members. Police were viewing CCTV footage and speaking to staff and others captured on video outside the mortuary. Forensic experts have also examined the bacon and the gown the woman was wearing. A member of the woman's family told BBC London News that the incident made them feel "physically sick". "It was like a horrible nightmare. I get flashbacks, my brain goes numb. I witnessed her passing away and then for me to witness that again, it's traumatic. I feel emotionally raped." The dead woman's daughter said her family was deeply affected by the incident. "I thought someone who did this hated Muslims especially. I don't know why they chose my mum. In life you expect a lot of things, but something so shocking, you couldn't even think it up in the worst horror movie. Evil, evil, people." David McVittie, chief executive of Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust, expressed sympathy for the family and said everything would be done to find out who was responsible. He said: "I am shocked and outraged that such a thing has happened and will not rest until we have found the perpetrators of this crime." The chairman of the Islamic Education and Cultural Society in Hayes, Amir Ahmed, said: "It's absolutely horrific. The family are obviously devastated. What has been said in interviews so far does not touch on the horror. "It does not really matter that this was a Muslim, for a corpse to be violated in this way is extremely offensive to anyone. Though obviously, this is particularly sensitive for Muslims." He said his society had worked hard within the community and with the police to establish good public relations but that this event had "set us back years". Mr Ahmed, also a member of Hillingdon Muslim council, praised investigating police but said it was important for an investigation into the hospital's security to be carried out and the culprit caught. Sarah Joseph, a spokeswoman for the Muslim Council of Britain, said the act was clearly carried out by someone who knew practising Muslims consider eating or touching pork to be highly offensive. "This was done to cause maximum upset. This was not only a Muslim but a human being. The desecration of any body will be condemned by everyone, there is not a sane person who would not be offended by this. "It has not come to light yet if this was the act of an Islamaphobe but there has been a rise in such attacks, such as desecration of graveyards. It is quite scary and a bit like 1930s Germany." A £5,000 reward was being offered by Scotland Yard and the hospital for information that leads to the finding of the culprit. The family was being represented by human rights solicitor Imran Khan, who represented the parents of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence. Anyone with information should contact the community safety unit at West Drayton police station on 020 8246 1766 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,939398,00.html Via: www.sargasso.nl ----- Aan het beginstukje van de schrijver heb ik weinig toe te voegen. :(