"That's why Hell was made."

Recently I've taken on an internship for an organizations called WATCH. Originally, WATCH stood for "Women at the Court House", but since men started expressing interest in joining the group, it is now just WATCH. WATCH volunteers and interns go to monitor cases of domestic violence and cases of violence against women and children.

So I was at Court last week and I witnessed the arraignment for this case that made me do a double take when I saw the complaint. Normally, I'm pretty desensitized to stuff like this. I've become desensitized because I have to be in court. You can't think every act is horrendous and worth crying about --although all of them are despicable.

The defendent in this case went into an apartment building and knocked on the victim's door. Thinking that it was one of her neighbors, the victim opens the door a bit to see who it was. Then the defendent proceeds to spray her in the eyes with an aerosol can so that she would let go of the door, forces his way into the victim's apartment. At knife point, he forces the victim to take off all her clothing and starts raping her. At this point, the victim ceases to hold the position that the attacker wants due to a physical disability, and the attacker hits her and forces her, again at knife point into her bedroom. In the bedroom, the courageous victim takes matters into her own hands and hits the defendent over the head with a nearby lamp a couple of times, causing him to flee in the apartment. The police find him outside in just his socks and his clothes, license, everything, in the victims apartment.

Now, guess what his plea was? You guessed it-- NOT GUILTY! Not guilty? What the hell? I don't get it. Why wouldn't he just admit to what he did instead of putting the victim through the whole grind of having to go to court and all that. He was expressing his "regret" and "remorse". His head was down and his voice was low and all his sentences ended with the word "sir." Where was this when you were raping a handicapped person???

I left court that day amazed at the attitude most, but not all, defendents had in court, especially knowing the details of their crimes and charges. That night at dinner, I was relaying my dad at court to my father and he said something that really made me think: "That's why Hell was made."

In all my years, I've known that there are bad guys, but my personal concern was not those bad guys-- it was how good I could get, how I compared with other "goodies" in the eyes of the Creator. And, don't get me wrong, I still think that way most of the time, but now I see myself on a much broader scope and I force myself to stop beating myself up about not being perfect --in worldly matters as well as spiritual ones.

Seeing crimes like these and their victims really makes you put things into perspective. Inshaa Allah, I'll keep you guys posted about any good stories come across in court to keep you centered, too.