Mai will appeal against SC decision
Mukhtaran Mai says she will challenge the Supreme Court decision to dismiss her appeal.
MEERWALA:
Rape victim Mukhtaran Mai said on Sunday that she would challenge the Supreme Court decision to dismiss her appeal against the early release of five men convicted of abusing her.
“I have decided, after consulting my friends and family, to file a review petition in the Supreme Court,” 40-year-old Mai told AFP at her home in Meerwala, 120 kilometres south-west of Multan.
Mukhtaran Mai, now 40, was gang raped in June 2002 on the orders of a village Panchayat as a punishment after her 12-year-old brother was wrongly accused of having illicit relations with a woman from a rival clan.
The court last week dismissed Mai’s appeal against the acquittal of five men she accused of attacking her.
A local anti-terrorism court (ATC) had sentenced six accused men to death, but Lahore High Court acquitted five of them in March 2005, and commuted the sentence for the main accused, Abdul Khaliq, to life imprisonment.
The Supreme Court heard separate appeals and ordered the release of five of those arrested, upholding only the life sentence given to Khaliq.
Mai’s case garnered much attention in the West as an example of oppression suffered by Pakistan’s women.
Human Rights Watch on Friday called on Pakistan’s government to petition the court to review the case and asked authorities to protect Mai.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2011.
Correction: April 25
Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article used 'he', instead of 'she' to refer to Mukhtaran Mai. The error has been corrected.
Rape victim Mukhtaran Mai said on Sunday that she would challenge the Supreme Court decision to dismiss her appeal against the early release of five men convicted of abusing her.
“I have decided, after consulting my friends and family, to file a review petition in the Supreme Court,” 40-year-old Mai told AFP at her home in Meerwala, 120 kilometres south-west of Multan.
Mukhtaran Mai, now 40, was gang raped in June 2002 on the orders of a village Panchayat as a punishment after her 12-year-old brother was wrongly accused of having illicit relations with a woman from a rival clan.
The court last week dismissed Mai’s appeal against the acquittal of five men she accused of attacking her.
A local anti-terrorism court (ATC) had sentenced six accused men to death, but Lahore High Court acquitted five of them in March 2005, and commuted the sentence for the main accused, Abdul Khaliq, to life imprisonment.
The Supreme Court heard separate appeals and ordered the release of five of those arrested, upholding only the life sentence given to Khaliq.
Mai’s case garnered much attention in the West as an example of oppression suffered by Pakistan’s women.
Human Rights Watch on Friday called on Pakistan’s government to petition the court to review the case and asked authorities to protect Mai.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2011.
Correction: April 25
Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article used 'he', instead of 'she' to refer to Mukhtaran Mai. The error has been corrected.