Canadian Court Sentences Brother to Two Months in Jail for Beating Sister with Power Cord After She Tried to Celebrate Birthday at Nightclub

A Somali refugee in Canada, Ibrahim Osman, 23, received a remarkably light sentence of two month for beating his sister with a power cord and threatening to shave her hair off when she tried to go a nightclub to celebrate her birthday. He considered dancing at clubs to violate Islamic standards for women.

While he pleaded guilty and Provincial court Judge Kenn Bellerose called the assault “very degrading,” he received a sentence that, in my view, hardly fits the crime. He claimed to have responded out of an Islamic tradition where brothers protect and punish sisters for immoral actions. His sister was found bruised and beaten with 20 to 25 whip marks on her back.

Osman’s mother Shaffiga Hussein was also charged with beating the girl in the same incident, though it is not clear whether she will be punished in the incident.

Osman also pleaded guilty to threatening to kill his mother during another incident a month ago as well as damaging cells at the city police station and the provincial courthouse in Regina.

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