Burned Alive

A Victim of the Law of Men

Souad is seventeen years old, she is in love. In her village like many others, love before marriage is synonymous with death. “Dishonoured”, her family assign her step-brother to assign her sentence.

Locked in the next door room, Souad heard her punishment. The next day, she is doing the laundry in the courtyard of the house. Her step-brother approaches, she is terrified, he throws petrol on her, he lights a match, and she is burnt alive.

In people’s eyes, this man is a hero. His crime was simply a “crime of honour”. In fact it was a cowardly murder. The executioner risks nothing, his crime is never chased up and rarely condemned. More than five thousand cases are reported each year worldwide, and many more that remain unknown.

Terribly burnt, Souad was saved by a miracle. She has decided to talk for all those who today are risking their lives. To tell the world the truth of this barbaric practice. She did it in fear of her life.

Burned Alive is an upsetting account of Souad, but it is also a call to attention. It is necessary to break to the silent taboo which hides the deaths of these women. Victims of the law of men.