http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_2-9-2002_pg7_2
MULTAN: Mukhtaran Mai, who was gang-raped by four men on the orders of a traditional jury, or panchayat, in Meerwala, said on Sunday she was satisfied with the six death sentences handed down for the crime.
A special anti-terrorism court in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan sentenced four rapists and two jurors early on Sunday for the June 22 attack on Mukhtaran Mai, a 30-year-old divorcee. Eight other men who had sat on the jury that authorised the crime were released.
Mai, who says her family has received death threats, was not in court when the judge announced the decision shortly after midnight. She was given the news at dawn by a relative in Meerwala. "God has provided justice to me," she told Reuters by telephone. "If courts start giving decisions like this, I am sure rapes will be reduced, if not stopped totally. I am satisfied with the decision."
Mai's father Ghulam Farid Jat said she was overcome by the news.
"She cried loudly and fainted a few times," he said.
Mai was raped by four men after approaching a traditional jury to settle a dispute with the more powerful Mastoi clan. Mai said she went to the jury after her 12-year-old brother Abdul Shakoor was kidnapped and sodomised by members of the Mastoi family as a punishment for having an illicit affair with one of their female relatives.
The jury ruled that to save Mastoi honour, Shakoor should marry the woman with whom he was linked while Mai was to be given away in marriage to a Mastoi man. When she rejected the decision, she was gang raped and made to walk home nearly naked in front of hundreds of people.
Police protection: Police sent extra armed men to Meerwala and cordoned off Mai?s house to prevent any revenge attack.
Mastoi family members said police had detained eight of their men as a precaution, but no independent confirmation was available.
On Friday, Mai told Reuters she and her family had been threatened with revenge if the men were convicted. She asked for government help to move to a safer place.
"We are receiving death threats," she said. "They have told us that if their four people are sentenced to death, they would kill eight of our men. Not only my family, but those who supported us are being threatened with dire consequences."
Lawyers for the convicted men have said they will appeal.
Execution in Pakistan is by hanging. Generally this is done only after a lengthy appeals process, but the anti-terrorism law under which the case was tried requires appeals to be filed within seven days.
Even though gang rapes and honour killings are common in rural Pakistan, the case caused an outcry when it was publicised in national newspapers to highlight the plight of women in rural areas, where feudal behaviour codes still rule.
Village councils are often convened to settle local disputes and women often end up as pawns of village elders.
Women's rights organisations welcomed the verdicts. "This was a correct decision," said Farzana Anjum of the Progressive Women's Association. "This will deter criminals from committing such heinous crimes as gang rape."
Mai's father said she had offered special prayers after the verdict and intended to visit a shrine to give thanks. But he said she had refused to accept sweets brought as gifts by several villagers after the verdict. "There's nothing to celebrate," he quoted her as saying. "Whatever punishment they got is because of their crime." -Reuters
Verdict OVERTURNED
Five men who were sentenced to death for gang raping awoman on the orders of a village council are set towalk out of jail after a Pakistani high court acquitted them yesterday.The two-member court in the city of Multan also converted the death term of a sixth accomplice to life imprisonment.
The victim, Mukhtaran Mai, broke down when told thenews: "That is the last resort for us," she said. She added that she would challenge the decision before the supreme court.
Mukhtaran was raped in June 2002 when she went to the village council after her 12-year-old brother was allegedly sodomised by men from the powerful Mastoi tribe.
She refused to accept the council's ruling on how to settle the dispute, and the council ordered the men to rape her in turn as more than 100 people sat outside.
No comments:
Post a Comment