According to a report in British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, a teenage Muslim girl who had participated in a Ukrainian beauty pageant was stoned to death -- however, controversy surrounds media reports in the wake of her death.
The body of Katya Koren, the 19-year-old who went missing after allegedly being ‘punished’ for violating Sharia Law, was found in a forest one week later.
Police reports suggest that Koren received head injuries, which may have caused her death.
The Telegraph reports that there were conflicting stories of the motive behind the killing. Local newspapers claimed she was stoned to death by hardline Muslims who were angered by her participation in the beauty contest.
But the police said her killing had nothing to do with sectarian violence and that the girl had been killed by a psychologically troubled classmate who had possibly raped her before battering her to death with a rock.
"A student did it, killing his classmate. There is no other underlying reason, neither religious nor linked with inter-ethnic conflicts," said Sergei Reznikov, a senior policeman involved in the case.
The Daily Mail reports that the glamorous Muslim beauty queen may actually have been battered with a rock by a crazed stalker after she spurned his advances.
According to a report in the Huffington Post, Chairman of the Mejlis of Crimean Tatar People said the detained teenager, who is of Crimean Tatar descent, was pressured by police into accepting the blame for the murder.
“The killing was covered in a distorted way, as if it was a religiously motivated murder, by the media around the world," he is quoted as saying.
Though initial reports claimed Koren, like her assailants, was Muslim, officials like the chairman now say she is actually Christian with Russian roots.
"The girl was not Muslim. All these [reports] are a provocation and fabricated news."
The article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction, June 5, 2011
Due to an editorial oversight, the original headline of the article suggested Katya Koren was Muslim. The headline has been corrected to reflect the fact that there are conflicting reports on the story.
COMMENTS (35)
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Your own news piece is saying that a class mate killed her then why go for the sensationalized heading 'Teenage beauty queen 'stoned to death':
ET : That's cheap, you can do better.
The incident happened in a foreign country and the victim is neither a muslim nor she was stoned to death by honoured muslims. Why we get outraged when these incidents are common in Pakistan.
Agreed! shame on the reporter.
As the contents of the subject story categorically contradict its Caption that reads "Teenage beauty queen 'stoned to death': Repot, it has not tainted rather tarnished the credibility of The Express Tribune.
The news lost it's views by the headline itself. Shame to the reporter.
It is not true story
I will only say that since the newspapers started saving money on editorial stuff, the quality of news has been compromised. Who write this story? or lifted from other newspaper must write where this incident took place and which country.
Oh hahaha the non-muslim, Christian beauty queen killed by stalker, and they title it stoning to death. Shameful.
What a misleading headline, what unethical journalism. Please stop relying on sensationalism to sell news. It is only a substitute for quality.
Phajja: "This is called defamation Compaign and These are the four main partners .There are other smaller partners as well but here are the 4 big liars
1) Britain 2) USA 3) France 4) India"
"Partners" suggests deliberate cooperation between these countries - it should be pointed out that it is not even consistent coverage here in the UK. There are indeed newspapers that have an undeclared bias against anything that doesn't fit their view of what being British is (largely, being white and Christian) - key examples being the Daily Mail, Daily Express and The Sun. It should be pointed out that although they have large readerships, they also attract large degrees of criticism and so do not provide a single representation of Britain.
There are also more liberal newspapers - The Guardian and The Independent, for example - which are more likely to have coverage which reports the actions of people as people, rather than people as their faith or culture.
Please do not assume that "Britain" as a whole is part of a single campaign of defamation. We have both good voices and bad voices here - something which could be said of anywhere in the world.
@Phajja:
You forgot Israel, may be they are your friends now?
The original press release was already discredited by other media agencies. It seems that the Express Tribune has taken cue from the original article of not first verifying the questionable facts and that is indeed a shame. It took others to point this out to you.
@picah
"None of the countries you mentioned ever target islam"
Depends on what your definition of 'target Islam' is? Ask a Muslim who is pulled aside at an airport for a 2 hour intense questioning (a common occurrence in the West), whether he was targeted because of his faith. Ask the Muslims around an area where 'spy' cameras were put up, whether they were singled out because of their faith. Ask the Muslim students in Universities who are secretly filmed whether they were targeted because of their faith? Yet none of them had any association with terrorist activities or sympathise with those who do. I can go on and on...
When you realize who actually owns these media houses and what their vested interests are it should come as no surprise as to why a psychological propaganda agenda is being unleashed on the masses.
what a mismatch between the actual news and the title... who u r trying to de-fame to sell ur newspaper!!! misleading masses!!!
Why did you put in head line "STONE TO DEATH" while you are reporting on the same page that Police denied about it???????????????????
The only problem I have with this is that it is quoting both the Mirror and the Telegraph. They are both tabloids and not so reliable.
It is a sad case overall though, and a it is a good thing that the Tribune is bringing it to everyone's attention.
a young girl has been a victim of some psycopath whether a muslim or Non Muslim whether the girl was a muslim or christian. But, the anti muslim propagnda across the world is quite alarming. islam wants men and women to lead good lives. islam wants that women should not indulge in activities which excite and incite sexuality. islam is not against entertainment but not by exploiting female body. however I fully commiserate with the victims family. May Almighty Lord give them patience to bear the loss.May almihty allah put us on straight path.
The Express Tribune has joined the western press (not surprising given its association with the Herald Tribune) in promoting Islamophobia and anything that demonises Muslims