She is living under police security not because there is threat of criminals or terrorists, but because her own parents are out to rake her! In other words, her parents are her worst foes at this moment because what she did, hardly any girl of her community dares to. This is the story of ill-fated Khaleda Begum, 25, whose fancy for marriage turned into a nightmare when she was forced to marry her own cousin, who was 20 years older to her. Khaleda is not the only victim of such brutal and savage custom, but many like her are forced to keep up the same brutal tradition. However, most of the girls surrender to such rituals or practices. This somewhere shows how the brutal practice like a tumor is stilling swelling up, if not openly, secretly at least.

It’s true that consanguineous marriage amongst Muslims is not a new phenomenon, however, when it comes to Muslims living in countries like England, it’s, indeed, shocking! It’s also true that customs prevailing in other communities are full of irrational ideologies but when it comes to Islam, customs and cruelty seem conspiring against women on a larger scale. The main reason for fast growing conflicts between modernity and radical Islam is that both stands head to head, especially when it comes to ideology. Supposing people brought up under the very shade of modernity, to cling to old trite traditions is quite ironic. Isn’t it? At a time when entire world is fast moving ahead, wrapping civilization in its fold, shrunk ideologies deny a woman the right to freedom, right to lead life in her own way, to choose her life partner and most ironically force her to marry her cousin or some other relative, whom she would have called brother or would have played with him. Isn’t it just a subterfuge to ravish her honor?

Here the main issue is not consanguineous marriage but brutality against women, against her honor, which is seething secretly on our world, one way or the other. For instance, the nightmarish treatment meted out to 15-year old Muslim, Turkish-German girl is there, who was rewarded with a vicious blow to the head that knocked her nearly unconscious to the floor. Her fault was just that she snapped out about herself, stating that she was too young to marry. Ironically, it was her father who gave her the deadly blow! It’s not surprising to know that just like England other developing countries also have similar tortuous pangs for Muslim women. For instance, an estimate proves that 30,000 women among Germany’s 3.2 million Muslim populations, of which 2.7 million are of Turkish origin, are subjected to forced marriages every year. In addition, thousands of Muslim women in Germany groan under brutal domestic violence. So, the question arises- Is the violence against Muslim women a global phenomenon.

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