Assyrian Man Hit Daughter for Dating a Muslim

     

Wellington(New Zealand)- AINA — Ishak Ishak, 59, who came to New Zealand as a refugee from Iraq, had pleaded guilty to assaulting his daughter in April. In Wellington District Court yesterday Judge Susan Thomas sentenced him to come up for sentence if called upon within nine months. Judge Thomas told him he had to comply with the laws of New Zealand. Ishak had gone to his daughter’s room while she was in bed to confront her about going out with a Muslim.

He hit out at her several times while she cowered under a blanket. He struck her hand causing swelling and bruising. Judge Thomas heard from Ishak’s lawyer, Sue Earl, that going out with a Muslim would bring great shame on the family and on the small Assyrian Christian community.

The daughter could be excommunicated for it and her father would lose his daughter along with her bloodlines, Earl said. She said Christians had been persecuted in Iraq, where Ishak had come from in 1995.

Judge Thomas said she understood that Ishak had found it a huge shock, felt crazy, was shaking and did not know what to do. Judge Thomas told him he had to comply with the laws of New Zealand and that she was concerned at his behaviour.

He had come to New Zealand to maintain his religious beliefs without discrimination – but it did not give him an excuse to assault anyone. Ishak had said he was very sorry and would never hit his daughter again.

Paul Morris, professor of religious studies at Victoria University, said the rapidly increasing religious and cultural diversity in New Zealand meant such cases were bound to increase.