Texas: Muslim Mother Who Beat, Choked, and Burned Teen Daughter for Not Wearing Hijab Pleads Guilty (Video)

An Islamic mother, Sittarh Mazhar Khan, stands accused of beating, choking, and burning her 14-year-old daughter in Houston, Texas, in October of last year. According to Harris County prosecutors, she was upset with her daughter for not wearing her hijab and for overcooking pita bread. In Islamic law (Sharia), women are required to cover themselves.

Initially, Khan, who does not speak English and needed an interpreter at the hearing, was also charged with assaulting a family member. However, that charge was dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to injuring a child and causing bodily harm. “The defendant, upset that the complainant did not wear her hijab at school, beat and choked the complainant, causing her to lose consciousness,” stated the hearing officer during Khan’s probable cause hearing shortly after her arrest.

A source close to the investigation informed KPRC 2 that Khan discovered her daughter’s missing head covering through an Instagram post. Additionally, “The defendant, upset that her daughter did not wear her hijab at school, beat and choked the complainant, causing her to lose consciousness,” the mother also faced an injury to a child charge stemming from an incident involving overcooked pita bread. Allegedly, Khan became upset about the bread and “forced the complainant’s arm onto a hot oven rack, resulting in three burn marks,” explained the hearing officer. Khan, who has been described as a homemaker for over 17 years, does not speak English.

Khan’s plea agreement includes deferred adjudication for three years. During this time, she is required to complete 100 hours of community service, donate $100 to the Houston Food Bank, refrain from using drugs or alcohol, and attend a 4-hour anger management class.

The question arises: How will participating in community service and anger management programs effectively address the Islamic beliefs that drove her to harm her daughter for not adhering to Sharia law? While the daughter is the victim here, it’s also difficult not to sympathize with Sittarh Khan, who likely treated her daughter arself was treated in her teenage years. The mistreatment of women is deeply ingrained in Islamic texts and Prophet Muhammad’s words and actions.

Furthermore, honor-related violence, a phenomenon prevalent in Europe, is now spreading to America following the country’s opening of its borders to Islamic migration. Honor violence, ranging from emotional abuse to murder, is typically perpetrated by family members, predominantly males, against female members perceived to have dishonored the family. Polls indicate overwhelming support for honor killings among Muslims.

Many sharia-adherent Islamic families who migrate to the West become enraged and resort to violence when their children adopt Western lifestyles. Many girls harmed by their families wished to escape their abusive Islamic upbringing.

The treatment of girls by their Muslim mothers and fathers is learned from their Islamic faith and the example set by the ProphetProphetn Islamic terms; such treatment for not wearing a hijab is not considered unusual or deviant. Instead of condemning Islam’s perspective on women, Western governments and left-wing media often insist that these abuses are isolated incidents, seeking to protect their sanitized image of Islam tailored for Western audiences. However, the cost of covering for Islam continues to endanger Muslim women and women in general.