Another atrocity

Mukhtaran Mai is a winner. We all know this and the realities cannot be changed by the verdict of any court. Since she suffered a brutal gang rape in 2002 on panchayat orders in her village in Muzaffargarh district, as punishment for her brother’s affair with a woman from a powerful clan, Mai has fought back with extraordinary courage. She has emerged as a spokeswoman for wronged women, established schools for girls and refused to allow the powerful to stand in her way. The apex court verdict delivered on April 21, acquitting five of the six men accused of raping her, counts as yet another atrocity against a woman who has suffered the most terrible abuse but refused to surrender her dignity or give up her efforts to help other women find empowerment.

Hearing Mai’s appeal against a Lahore High Court verdict which overturned a death sentence delivered against all six perpetrators, the Supreme Court upheld the order ruling the men be released. Only one, Abdul Khaliq, serving a life sentence is to remain behind bars. The members of the panchayat who meted out the awful punishment also escape penalty. The message that goes out for the future is clear: Rape victims, even those willing to speak out, have no power and stand little chance of attaining justice.

The court, of course, is constrained to act only on the basis of information put before it. Women’s rights groups who have criticised the ruling have also noted that flawed and indifferent police investigations often determine court actions. For the police, rape and other crimes against women are almost never a priority.

This is all the more true when victims, like Mai, lack status. The investigative procedure, too, has many loopholes. The saddening verdict reveals all this and exposes the ability of courts to stand by victims. We can only hope now that this case will result in the process being amended so that other victims can be spared the long ordeal of Mukhtaran Mai, who now also faces a threat from the five men set free by the court.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2011.