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gang-rape victim to move Supreme Court
timbuktu
03/06/05 at 03:14:43
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[size=4][center]Mukhtaran to move SC despite life fear[/center][/size]

By Naveed Ahmad

ISLAMABAD: Mukhtaran Mai, the 30-year-old victim of gang rape on orders of a tribal chief in remote Meerwala village of the Punjab, on Saturday said she would move the Supreme Court against the acquittal of five of the six accused by a Lahore High Court bench.

The LHC bench on Thursday commuted death sentence to the sixth accused to life imprisonment. The two-member bench ruled that evidence produced before the trial court was insufficient and there were faults in the police investigation. Detailed judgment in this case has yet to come.

A frayed but courageous Mai told a crowded news conference here in her native Seriaki language that she would not quit Pakistan and her "case is also being adjudged by the court of the Almighty".

"I will fight them out while staying in my homeland," she said while asking journalists to back her in this struggle. Mukhtaran also announced to keep running the school she herself had opened.

She was brutally and publicly gang-raped in June 2002 by four volunteers on the orders of a village court, or Panchayat. Mai’s then 12-year-old brother Abdul Shakoor had been seen walking with a girl from the more influential Mastoi tribe.

Mukhtaran went to the village council after her 12-year-old brother was allegedly sodomised by men from the powerful Mastoi tribe. The influential Panchayat ordered Mai’s rape to avenge their "honour" in turn as more than 100 people sat outside.

Mai’s family sat helplessly while she was dragged into a room, even as she screamed and pleaded for mercy. To further humiliate her, and make an example of those who would defy the power of local strongmen, she was paraded naked before hundreds of onlookers. Her father covered her with a shawl and walked her home.

"I will rather die at the hands of such animals than giving up my right to justice and I will pursue my case despite threat to my life," she declared. The poor victim from the under-developed and primitive southern Punjab district pointedly claimed that an influential tribal leader was backing the culprits. "We are facing serious threats to our lives," Mukhtaran said.

"Not I but my entire family is at risk at the hands of the freed accused," she said and appealed to the authorities not free the accused. Regarding the LHC decision she said: "I was shocked to hear the decision of the Lahore High Court, and now would knock at the doors of the superior judicial institution, Supreme Court of Pakistan, in quest for justice."

Farzana Bari, head of Women Development Organisation, said the high court has stunned the entire nation and "people are unable to decipher the meaning of justice in the light of the decision".

IA Rehman, Director of Pakistan Human Rights Commission, said that "people have been losing confidence in the police and the judicial process so they resort to their own means". The veteran human rights activist said: "If you support a military government amending the constitution, you cannot expect the ordinary people to respect law."

According to Mai, senior advocate and renowned politician Aitezaz Ahsan would plead her case in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. On the other hand, various prominent and well-connected lawyers are moving no stone unturned to get the high-profile criminal case. The offer has so far been formally given to Mukhtaran Mai by Babar Awan Advocate, Naheeda Mehboob Ilahi Advocate and Rab Nawaz Advocate besides a few others.

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/index.html
03/06/05 at 06:57:03
timbuktu
Re: gang-rape victim to move Supreme Court
anon
03/06/05 at 09:48:39
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The court gave its reasons for acquitting 5 of the accused men. It is strange that the above news story makes no mention of the court's explanation for the ruling.

I don't remember exact details but the following are some of the things mentioned by the court:

- It was claimed that the victim prays 5 times a day, but she failed to take a bath for 7 days after the tradegy but somehow managed to wash her clothes that had tell-tale 'stains'. The defense was able to use this or similar info to cast doubt in the case.


- It was proven that 2 of the accused actually tried to save the victim from getting raped by speaking against such a decision in the panchayat.

- participation in the rape was never proven for the others acquitted

- there was strong evidance for rape against that one man who has been sentenced to life imprisonment

Allah knows best, may He give justice, recompense, and safety for the poor woman.
03/06/05 at 12:20:55
anon
Re: gang-rape victim to move Supreme Court
Ember
03/07/05 at 17:40:12
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I am not well versed on this case but this point stood out.

"- It was claimed that the victim prays 5 times a day, but she failed to take a bath for 7 days after the tradegy but somehow managed to wash her clothes that had tell-tale 'stains'. The defense was able to use this or similar info to cast doubt in the case. "

do you know that many victims don't know what evidence is useful, so many ordinary people would think that a body exam is enough, so this might lead them to clean off other evidence, such as the clothes.

It is very sad. Sounds so like that case in India a few years ago. All we can pray for is for Allah to show his power and let justice prevail, LOUDLY for even the blind to hear.


Re: gang-rape victim to move Supreme Court
jannah
03/08/05 at 02:29:19
wlm,

This case is just incomprehensible to me. How can this be allowed in a place where people call themselves Muslims??  Rape as a punishment!!!?? How can they even think it? With multiple partaking, with hundreds of witnesses doing nothing?  Astaghfirullah what a defilement of our deen and culture.  People should be outraged and disgusted!!!

Why doesn't Pakistan move to dissolve these "panchiyat" whatever vigilante tribal courts and punish the people that partake in them.  It's one thing to have rapists, it's another to support this type of thing as part of their system of government?! Or is the government there so corrupt ? It's just so horrible.

Subhanallah that she says she knows whatever happens here her case will be judged by Allah. I can only admire her strength and faith. May Allah protect her inshaallah and give her justice in this world and the next.
03/08/05 at 02:30:12
jannah
Re: gang-rape victim to move Supreme Court
tree
03/08/05 at 15:10:15
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more about mukhtar mai
http://www.mukhtarmai.com/
Re: gang-rape victim to move Supreme Court
Ember
03/08/05 at 16:51:14
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According to this article " more than 150 Pakistani women were raped by order of panchiat courts in the first half of 2004. "???

Is this true??? Seems quite high for a muslim country.

I hope Allah forgives us for being witness to these atrocities committed against our sisters.


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