A sentence recently handed down by a judge in Lahore, Pakistan, in the case of two brothers that kidnapped and then cut off the ears and nose of their 20-year-old cousin because she refused to marry one of them ended with a bizarre twist yesterday. While both men were sentenced to life in prison, a sentence which befits the crime as far as I am concerned, the judge also decided to defer to Islamic law and sentenced both to have their ears and noses cut off as well.

Now, I am sure there are some out there that are applauding this. But the fact remains that while the actions of the men were heinous, to say the least, they will also spend the rest of their lives in prison in a country in which prison is akin to hell. Of course, the ruling could simply be symbolic and an appeal could very well spare them the knife, but I think that it’s important to look at something like this in a rational manner, one befitting the principles of not only the essence of the Universal Declaration, but those of a higher sense of humanity that one hopes would prevail.

Yes, a crime was committed, one that was disgusting and steeped in the ugliness of gender bias in a society in which it is prevalent. But stepping back, what does applauding the removal of noses and ears make any of us if we are to point to the inequality of the sexes as the root cause? One cannot claim ‘an eye for an eye’ as just when the crime itself is condemned as an act of brutality that further demonstrates the plight of millions of women throughout the world. Such a position only weakens the tenets of the Universal Declaration and in no way counts as a symbolic victory for women’s rights. The reason? Because no matter what happens to those two brothers, it doesn’t alter the fact that Fazeelat Bibi will have to spend the rest of her life disfigured. What happened to her is the point, and is a reflection of the sort of abuse that countless women throughout the world endure. Laws exist to punish those responsible, and if they do not then the fight must be to ensure that laws are implemented that do. But what must not happen is for any of us to rejoice in a convenient, short lived sense of self satisfaction by lowering ourselves to the same level as those that are guilty of such acts. By doing so, those responsible for such crimes ultimately win because in the process we have allowed our humanity to be degraded.