Drama from real lifeMurder at Jamal Street [Archives:2004/754/Community]

By Abdulwahab A. Al-Sofi
For Yemen Times
[email protected]
The following story persuaded me to write this article. It is a tragedy story in which a 25 year old daughter killed her mother. It is an atrocious crime. It made my hair stand on end.
The family contains two daughters, the mother and the father. They live in a flat in a big building in Jamal Street in Hodeidah. Last month one daughter was in the flat with her mother while the other daughter and father were at work.
The crime was committed at eleven o'clock in the morning. The daughter stabbed her mother several times in the chest and head.
Eyes witness said that the mother could leave the flat to help herself to the hospital, but she dropped faint and was lying next to the gate of the building. She was rescued, but died on the way to the hospital.
The father came back to home after the police had taken the daughter to the central jail, and his wife had died.
Now, the girl is still under arrest. It is said that there is a third party to the crime, but they are still unknown. It is a mystery that no one can fathom so far. We are very sorry that these incidents exist in our Moslem society.
We have to examine these cases well and then review our family problems concerning our unmarried daughters and sisters. We should take care of our daughters and sisters. It is not wise to imprison women at home. This results dire consequences. It leads them to rebellion in many cases.
On the other hand, we do not wish to overturn all Yemeni traditions. It is a happy medium we seek. The delay in girls' marriage leads to psychological difficulties for some girls as many people's tongues condemn girls severely and they may kill them sometimes. Unmarried women who are more than 30 years old are rejected by our society. They think that girls at this age have lost their chance to marry. This traditional idea is widespread in Yemeni society. This illusion is stuck in girls' minds. They will not reject this notion unless sociologists, psychologists, parents, teachers and Islamic preachers denounce these wrong concepts.
Before going on into details, we have to ask a pivotal question. Why do youths abstain from marriage? The answer is easy but it is a Herculean task to get a solution. Some educated young men prefer to live single than to marry for financial reasons, as marriage requires 40 thousand per month at least.
The reality is that a man has no age limit to getting married, whereas a woman is considered to be unsuitable after 30. A man can marry a girl of 16 years old however old he is, as long as he has the ability to pay for the marriage. That is why women usually do not get married when they are more than 30 years old.
In addition to that, about three girls are born for each boy nowadays. To prove this, check how many girls and boys there are in families generally. Consequently, our religion allows Moslems to marry four women. Unfortunately, many men cannot get married once. This is because of dowry customs, class discrimination and wedding costs. The result is more dangerous than we expect. It is time that parents had to purchase husbands for their daughters as our grand father's said.
We are coming to an actual catastrophe – secret marriages have started in our society. Illegal relationships continue. We have to be aware of these events and stop them. These matters must be taken into consideration and are the responsibility of us all. We also should contribute to solving them. Parents have to be careful. Mosques' preachers should continue encouraging marriage. The Ministry of Information should not ignore these problems. T.V is a very good medium to convey the message, which will certainly encourage people to get married. Make girls accept marriage to a married man. The fourth authority, journalism, must encourage the multiple marriage. T.V. is influential for all kinds of people. It convinced us to consume spoiled food. Why don't we use it for helping people to get married?
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