Given the publicity surrounding the case and the story of the victim herself, I think what has happened is a shame.
FAIR LAWN, NJ, US: This is with reference to your report of April 21 on the acquittal of five of the six men accused of raping Mukhtaran Mai. The Supreme Court verdict on April 21 upheld an earlier one by the Lahore High Court which had also acquitted the suspects.
Given the publicity surrounding the case and the story of the victim herself, I think what has happened is a shame. The verdict by our superior courts, unfortunately, is reflective of the patriarchal mindset that dominates a society such as ours, and where women against whom crimes have been committed are increasingly finding it difficult to find justice.
At a more general level, it seems that how a woman dresses, who she talks to and how she carries and conducts herself, seems to be just about everybody’s business. This is a curse on our society and makes women feel as if they have no freedom whatsoever to do anything.
Mahmood Adnan
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2011.
