assallamu allaikum
Pakistan rape case controversy
What effect will the appeal in the Pakistan gang rape case have on women's justice?
Pakistan's Supreme Court is hearing appeals in a notorious gang rape case which has received worldwide attention.
A village council in Punjab allegedly ordered the rape of Mukhtar Mai in 2002 because her younger brother was seen with a woman from another tribe.
In March, a lower court overturned the convictions of five men and Ms Mai and the government are appealing against four of those acquittals with proceedings expected to last for at least a week.
What impact do you think Mukhtar Mai's decision to speak out has had on women's justice in Pakistan? Will it encourage others to come forward in so-called "honour" cases?
wasalaam
Was she right to speak out? probably
Will it help? probably not. It may ave the opposite effect.
The problem is being dealt with in the supreme court. Inshallah the agressors will be punished.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Salaam
There has been so much bad PR all over the world regarding this case. Especially after she was put on house arrest and had her passport taken away.
It’s sad that she had to appeal in the first place. The rapists shouldn’t have got away with it in the first place based on “lack of evidence”.
But because President Musharraf's commitment to protect the rights of women is under the spotlight, I have a feeling that the rapists will be now be charged.
The tribal leaders badly need to be educated. Islam's verdict regarding rape is clear, but because the villagers followed their cultural laws, the rapists were protected and the victim suffered as a result.
May Allah give her and her family strength and sabr to get through this ordeal.
Wasalaam
I find it understandable to put her under virtual house arrest. After all she was invited to washington as an example of pakistan's backwardness. She would have been used as a political tool against pakistan.
Regarding the earlier verdict; it was the prosecutions fault. After all the jury should never decide by trial by media.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
she SHOULD be given freedom to move-and whether she'd back chat Pakiland or not is her own buisness
this was a bad move which made Pakistan government look even more bad
"But I feel the government is very suspicious of me," she said.
"I wonder why? Maybe they feel had I gone to the US, I would have talked against Pakistan.
"Little do they know that had anyone dared say a word against my country I would have shut that person up there and then."
[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4114714.stm]BBC News[/url]
Yes she may be very nationalistic (after all it was the country that tried to correct the ways of her tribe), but its not what is said in her presence that would hhurt, but her presence.
PS the virtual house arrest I mentioned earlier should have been in speach marks, as she is not under house arrest, but it may seem that way.
he should speak out against what happened to her, to make sure such a thing never happens again, but going abroad to make the message is just inviting the cause to be hijacked.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
actually its much more twisted than that - the village council [b]accused[/b] her younger brother of having sexual relations with a woman of [b]superior status[/b] ( :roll: ) and this was disproved in court where it became apparent tht the council accused him to cover up and protect some of their own men who had abused the kid.
[size=9]I NEVER WORE IT BECAUSE OF THE TALIBAN, MOTHER. I LIKE THE [b]MODESTY[/b] AND [b]PROTECTION[/b] IT AFFORDS ME FROM THE EYES OF MEN.[/size] [url=http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Dust.html]Dust, X-Men[/url]
Pakistan rape acquittals rejected
Pakistan's Supreme Court has suspended the acquittals of five men in a notorious gang rape case that has sparked worldwide outrage.
The Lahore High Court had in March acquitted the five who are accused of raping Mukhtar Mai in 2002, allegedly on a village council's order.
Ms Mai, who had appealed against the acquittals, said she was delighted with the decision and hoped for justice.
The court ordered the men be detained in custody pending the appeal hearings.
In his ruling, he ordered 14 men - the five acquitted by the Lahore court, a sixth man whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by that court and another eight men acquitted at the original trial - be held in custody.
The case acquired political overtones after President Pervez Musharraf barred Ms Mai from travelling abroad, fearing she might undermine Pakistan's image.
The government has stationed police at her home in Meerwala, in central Punjab province, saying she needs protection.
But she has complained that she is under virtual house arrest.
On Monday Ms Mai confirmed she had now been given back her passport.
Ms Mai spoke of her ordeal in an interview with the Christian Science Monitor on Monday.
She said: "I had three choices. Either to commit suicide by jumping in a well or shed tears all my life like any other victim in such cases, or challenge the cruel feudal and tribal system and harsh attitudes of society."
[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4629457.stm]BBC News[/url]
Pakistani court agrees to review gang-rape case
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan's Supreme Court agreed yesterday to reopen an inquiry into the high-profile case of Mukthar Mai, a laborer's daughter from southern Punjab province who allegedly was gang-raped on the orders of a tribal council in 2002.
The court decision overturned a judgment by the Lahore High Court, issued in March, that threw out the convictions of five of the men accused of involvement in the rape and commuted the death sentence of a sixth.
The Supreme Court also ordered the rearrest of 13 of the original suspects in the case. The decision, after two days of hearings, was a victory for Mai, whose case has prompted international sympathy and become a focal point for concern about violence against women in Pakistan.
Hundreds of women are raped, maimed and killed every year in so-called honor attacks, many at the hands of their own families. Victims of sexual assault often suffer in silence for fear they will be shunned by their families if they come forward.
The court now will review the evidence and make its own determination as to the guilt or innocence of the accused, a process likely to take months.
Outside the court yesterday, dozens of women hugged and congratulated Mai. "I am happy, and I hope those who humiliated me will be punished," she said.
Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the head of a panel of three judges that heard the appeal, issued nonbailable arrest warrants for the 13 suspects, who are in jail but not formally charged.
Pakistan has been under intense international pressure to punish those involved in the alleged rape and recently came under renewed criticism when Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, barred Mai from traveling to the United States on grounds that she might project a "bad image" of Pakistan. The ban was lifted after protests from the U.S. and other governments.
Women's-rights activists say Mai's greatest impact may be at home, where her boldness has helped change people's perceptions of rape victims.
"She has become a symbol of resistance and defiance in the country," says Farzana Bari, a leading women-rights activist. "For the women's movement, her case is significant as she is showing the cruel face of a system which considers women as property."
The fate of Mai, 32, changed when she was allegedly raped by several men on the orders of a self-styled community justice council, known as a punchayat, in the Punjab village of Meerwala. The councils consist of tribal elders and influential feudal lords.
She was punished after a rival clan claimed her teenage brother allegedly had a sexual relationship with a girl of their clan. Villagers said the boy was merely seen walking with the girl. The punchayat ordered that Mai be raped to settle the score.
Mai said she shouted and screamed for help while she was dragged in front of hordes of villagers to be raped. She walked back to her family house in front of the villagers, shivering, crying. But nobody came forward as a witness in her case.
When the case hit the headlines of international media, Mai became a celebrity and visited several countries in the West.
Using money she raised abroad, she runs a primary school for girls and boys. Within two years, the enrollment increased to 350 and she plans to build more classrooms. The success shows that the villagers trust her, even to teach the Quran.
This story was compiled from The Washington Post
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hhmm
Serve as an example this case will
For women in Pakistan as well as the state of the current government.
Very Careful they must tread.
Back in BLACK
God forbid that I should ever be in such a situation-I'd create the most fuss
incl going to other countries and chatting about all the barbaric customs that go on
and no one should have the right to stop me
its importnat to raise awareness-otherwise people just get away with murder
if she hadnt appealed and created a fuss the rapists would still be free cos of the stupid ignorant Jury who passed the initial verdict
who cares? surely anything which shakes this backward system is a good thing? if ur saying that westerners will only hijack her story in order to secularise pakistani society; from what my pakistani friends say, most major cities are already there.
[size=9]I NEVER WORE IT BECAUSE OF THE TALIBAN, MOTHER. I LIKE THE [b]MODESTY[/b] AND [b]PROTECTION[/b] IT AFFORDS ME FROM THE EYES OF MEN.[/size] [url=http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Dust.html]Dust, X-Men[/url]
Cities and rural areas are two different things. Different people, different mentalities.
Now if an outsider attacks any one of these, the people will protect what they do, even if its wrong.
If she went abroad, she would not be used to attack the villagers who committed this dispicable act, but the pakistani government. As she is illiterate even if she disagreed she could not do anything.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
i read this article and could just not believe it, i had to read it again!!!
and the sad thing is that these people call themselves muslims...
"Verily, in the remembrance of Allah, do hearts find rest"
Ive noticed
some people were against this story being a high profiel case purely because it puts Pak in a bad light
so what
that country has so many issues that need to be dealt with