...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

All’s fair in love and sharia: Now here’s one you probably haven’t seen on Oprah or Jerry Springer. A Canadian had his wife brazenly stolen by his best friend—who already had a wife and planned to keep her—and the union was sanctioned by a local imam. From the Toronto Star:

…More than two years after his wife left him, Boutaya remembers every detail of the moment of revelation he has relived in his mind many times since. The former civil servant came home early from a job-hunting trip to Ottawa to surprise his wife and two children, picking up a cake on his way. When he arrived, he found Ismail sitting at the dinner table, eating comfortably, as if he was in his own home.

"I asked him, `What are you doing here, my friend? You should not be here alone with my wife when I am not here,'" said Boutaya.

"What's the problem?" Boutaya said Ismail replied. "She is my wife."

In shock, Boutaya stormed out with his two children – a daughter, 7, and son, 11 – and drove to the local police station in Hamilton.

"It was my first reaction. I just needed someone to listen to me and protect me," said Boutaya. Instead, he was told that he didn't have much of a case.

So Boutaya sought proof. He spent the next month talking to imams while taking care of his children and trying to adjust to life at the Good Shepherd Centre, a local shelter, where they lived for four months. His wife continued to live in their home.

"It's been so hard for my kids. They were in shock for weeks afterwards," said Boutaya, who now lives in subsidized housing.

For years, officials have said part of the difficulty in prosecuting polygamy has been that it is a victimless crime. But the story of Boutaya and Rigby, and the seven children caught in between, suggests there can be a great deal of emotional harm.

"For the women and men, it is devastating and life changing," said MPP Horwath, who says she has spoken to a number of women and men affected by polygamy. Horwath says she has been urging the government to liaise with the Muslim community, and to put legislation in place that protects the rights of all people.

Boutaya insists on speaking out publicly about what he says is the abuse of polygamy, even though he has had little support from within the Muslim community and his own situation is irretrievable. He's now in the middle of getting a divorce.

"If I can't save my family," he said. "Maybe I can save the situation of someone in the future."

Good luck, Boutaya. Canada not only turns a blind eye to the “victimless crime” of polygamy, it underwrites it.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:30 | link | comments (1)

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