By Antoine Amrieh
HALBA, Lebanon: Activists, women’s groups and local residents Sunday urged Parliament to approve a draft law aimed at protecting women from domestic violence during a protest in Akkar condemning the killing of Roula Yaacoub.
Yaacoub was allegedly beaten to death by her husband earlier this month. Under the banner of “Roula is dead but her voice is not,” protesters blocked the main road in the northern town of Halba and called on MPs to pass the draft law to protect women at Parliament’s joint committees session Monday.
Members of Yaacoub’s family, including her mother and uncle, and friends and neighbors were present at the protest.
Yaacoub, 31, was found beaten and comatose at her home in Halba almost two weeks ago. She died immediately upon arrival in hospital.
According to neighbors, Yaacoub and her five daughters, the youngest of whom is 7 months old, were regularly beaten by her husband, Karam al-Bazzi.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Yaacoub’s mother, Leila Khoury, insisted that she would not rest until the criminal was punished, and added that her daughter maintained all of her good qualities despite the beatings she regularly received at the hands of the man she married.
“She refused my offers to intervene, believing that she was able to solve her own problems, and the citizens of Halba are witnesses to her goodness,” Khoury said.
Khoury said Yaacoub’s husband had no real reason to assault her daughter, but added that he had recently mentioned a number had been erased from his mobile phone and he blamed Yaacoub. She speculated that after questioning his children on the matter, he beat them, and as Yaacoub attempted to stop him, she received the final blow.
“Perhaps his young children are the ones who deleted the number, does that mean Roula deserves the beating?” Khoury asked.
Khoury refused to consider that her son-in-law might be suffering from any psychological disorders as it had never been an issue over the years; on the contrary, she said, he ran a cleaning office very responsibly. She also called on all those involved in the case to help uncover the truth and bring justice for her daughter.
At the protest, lawyer Bouchra Khoury directly addressed MPs and said their refusal to pass the law against domestic violence meant they were responsible for the crime.
“I ask the [members of Parliament] to watch the news and read the newspapers to know that every day there is a Roula Yaacoub who is being beaten and abused and killed,” she said, adding: “They are busy extending their terms rather than passing a law that will protect women from domestic violence.”
Family spokeswoman and relative Liliane Yaacoub added that Roula’s death had become a symbol of oppression and violence, and those protesting it were pioneers of justice and peace. She also added a list of demands in the name of Yaacoub’s mother and the residents of Halba, the primary one being that an autopsy be performed on Yaacoub’s body to determine the cause of death as soon as possible by legitimate and competent medical examiners. She also asked that there be no interference in the case in order to achieve justice.
“Roula’s case is not one of the family nor one of the area, it is an individual case, but it has [left] ... all Lebanese [shaken] and has become a nationwide issue,” she added.
Halba residents’ spokeswoman Mariane Yaacoub also called on the MPs to approve the draft law to prevent a similar case from reoccurring.
“We don’t have a law to protect us ... but God is with us and justice is with us and Roula’s justice will not die,” she said.
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22/07/2013
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2013/Jul-22/224540-akkar-protest-demands-domestic-violence-law.ashx#axzz2Zm9vTRw6
