A few years ago, I insisted on watching the movie “A Bahraini Story” at a Manama cinema for the second time. As I watched, I felt like crying at the destroyed dreams of the three female characters who lived under a regime of coercion and submission. They succumbed to the prevailing traditions of Arab societies during the 1960s. The film deeply moved me and was based on a real story that happened in the Bahraini city of Al-Muharaq. It was said that the story writer, Fareed Ramadan, himself witnessed the incident. The scene in which Fatima, one of the three heroines, commits suicide is still vivid in my memory. She set herself on fire as her husband watched. She loved a man called Hamad but was forced to marry her cousin. As a result, she decided to end her own life to be rid of her pain and agony. The melodramatic scenes of that movie, with all its misery and sad music composed by Mohammed Al-Hadad, came back to me when I read the story of Hanan, a Saudi girl from Asir who also committed suicide by setting herself on fire. Hanan did not want to be controlled by her brother; a judge had forced her to remain under his guardianship despite her objections. The brother not only abused her but would also prevent her from getting married. I do not wish to comment on suicide and its position within Islam, nor will I mention that her experiences may have left her mentally depressed, something that would explain the drastic measures she took. However, what I will say is that it is enough for me to know she is no longer alive. All I want to remind myself is that many girls have committed suicide and ended their lives. Some hung themselves, others slit their wrists and some took drug overdoses. Then there are the girls who live among us — they work, pray and do lots of things but are actually mentally dead. I believe many girls have thought of suicide when they realized that their lives have become meaningless. The male guardians of these women control them and physically and verbally abuse them. They often prevent them from getting married to keep control of their money and live male chauvinistic lives. This is what happened to Hanan. Her brother would control her, speak ill of her, steal her money, physically and verbally abuse her, and stop her from marrying. He threatened to kill her and left her living in constant fear and misery. Two years after her death, the governor of Asir ordered her case to be revisited. I feel that the body investigating the matter should focus on Hanan's brother who exploited his authority as a male guardian to abuse his sister without anyone stopping him. The concept of male guardians should be reevaluated because it causes many miseries in our society. Hanan's death was painful and agonizing. She left a message: “I will burn your hearts as you kept silent in regards to my rights.” I not only feel sad for Hanan who died in her prime, I also feel for the many women who believe they are alive when they are actually dead. Many girls died when their dreams were shattered. We can hear their hearts beating but this does not mean they are alive. Perhaps the only thing that prevents these girls from committing suicide is the Islamic prohibition on suicide. Fatima's story ended. It was captured in a film but Hanan's story is still waiting for the curtains to close — justice remains to be realized.
