Mick Hartley

Well this is a weird one (via). It's from the Daily Mail, and though I don't normally link to the Mail I'll make an exception here:

A teenage Muslim girl was stoned to death under 'Sharia law' after taking part in a beauty contest in Ukraine.

Katya Koren, 19, was found dead in a village in the Crimea region near her home. 

Friends said she liked wearing fashionable clothes and had come seventh in a beauty contest.

Her battered body was buried in a forest and was found a week after she disappeared.

Police have opened a murder investigation and are looking into claims that three Muslim youths killed her, claiming her death was justified under Islam.  

One of the three – named as 16-year-old Bihal Gaziev – is under arrest and told police that Katya had 'violated the laws of Sharia'. Gaziev has said he has no regrets about her death.

That's all the info you get on this particular case. There follows a long discourse on the "divisive" subject of stoning in Islam, with allusion to the notorious case of the Iranian Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. Which of course is all irrelevant. Even with the skimpy information the Mail provides it's clear that this, however horrific it may be, is not a stoning as stoning is normally understood: ie a sanctioned killing handed out under Sharia law whereby someone is buried up to the waist/neck, and stoned to death by the crowd. This poor girl was – apparently – abducted and murdered by three thugs. If the Mail's right about the motives, it's an honour killing. The issue of stoning is dragged in here simply to sensationalise the story.

If the Mail's right. A number of commenters have questioned the report. Rina from Newcastle, for instance:

Daily Mail, stop lying and instigating hatred for Muslims! The original Russian article from Komsomolskaya Pravda of 28/05 does not mention any religious motives in this murder (I can provide the link to the original story). Katya wasn't a Muslim. Katya Koren is not a Muslim name. There was no "three Muslim teenagers" who "stones Katya". there was just one mentally distrurbed boy of Muslim origin who hit her on the head once. He doesn't know himself why he did it. People suspect because Katya rejected him. This has absolutely nothing to do with sharia, Muslims, religion etc. Who is making up such stories? You should be ashamed of yourselves, but I bet you knew very well what you were doing.

It'd be interesting to read the original Russian sources. At the moment on Google it all ends up back with the Mail piece, though the Mirror has now picked up on the story.

Personally I'm inclined to believe Rina of Newcastle.

All in the finest traditions of the Daily Mail….

Update: Comment at 16:11 from "Asan, Crimea":

THE KEY FACTS: 1. Katya is an Orthodox Christian. 2. Bilyal is formally Muslim, just adopted by Muslim man 3. Bilyal is not religious, like his father, even didn't go to mosque. 4. Murder is not done by stoning. 5. Internal Affairs Dep. announced that murder has no religious roots. 6. Such a news first appeared in pro-Russian media.