Without Comments (Sanakhawn-e- taqdees-e-Mushriq kahan hain?) Gang-rape victim narrates ordeal

Muzaffargarh, July 5: A woman, gang-raped on the orders of a village jury in a Punjab village, said on Friday she kept begging for mercy, but none from hundreds of people around helped her as four men dragged her to a room and gang-raped her. Mukhtaran Mai and her father said no one from the crowd dared to object to the verdict of the traditional jury, or Panchayat, of village elders for fear of their lives."They kept dragging me towards the room," Mai told Reuters Television about the incident that has sparked a national outcry. "My father, uncle and myself begged for mercy from them (jury) and the people sitting there but no one came to our help," she said at Muzaffargarh town near her Meerwala Jatoi village. "They raped me for one hour and afterwards I was unable to move," Mai said. "After one hour, I called my father and uncle to take me home." A close relative of Mai fainted as she spoke about the ordeal she suffered as a punishment for an alleged love affair her brother had with a girl of a "high-class" tribe. "We begged for mercy in the name of God, but they held guns on us and thus we were helpless," Mai's father Ghulam Farid Gujjar said about the incident that happened on June 22, but was registered as a complaint by police only about a week later. Police said on Friday they had arrested one of the four alleged rapists and were hunting for three others as the Supreme Court heard the provincial police chief saying he was unaware of the incident even a week after it had happened.

"It is unbelievable that the IG (Inspector-General of Police), being the head of the police, came to know about the facts of case so late," Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad remarked during a brief hearing in Lahore. The country's top court had summoned the provincial police chief and local police officials to explain the incident after newspaper reports that a crowd of villagers, too frightened to protest against the jury's ruling, watched four men take turns to rape Mai inside a farmhouse and force her to walk home naked.

The government, which has vowed to pursue the case, on Thursday handed a cheque for 500,000 rupees ($8,200) to Mai. Local newspaper reports had said Mai was an 18-year-old, but Punjab police chief Malik Asif Hayat told the Supreme Court she was actually a 30-year-old divorcee. "I would have committed suicide if the government had not come to my help," Mai told Women's Development Minister Attiya Inayatullah who gave her the cheque. Inayatullah said the government was considering setting up a summary court to deliver quick punishment to those responsible for the gang-rape. Newspaper reports said on Friday another young girl of the same area committed suicide a few days ago after being raped. The authorities have confirmed the report. Reuters

Main accused arrested from Lasbela: Meerwala gang-rape By Nadeem Saeed

Jatoi police SHO Abdul Latif told Dawn that Abdul Khaliq who led the criminal assault on the woman had been arrested. "He is now being escorted to Jatoi," he said. Latif said hunt for other rapists - Allah Ditta, Ghulam Farid and Fayyaz - and so-called jurists - Faiz Bakhsh and Muhammad Ramzan - was on. Ghulam Farid was also among the jurists before joining the rapists. Meanwhile, the Jatoi police have registered a case on the report of 12-year-old Shakoor against Jamil, Pannu and Manzoor for sodomising him. However, none of the three was arrested. Dera Ghazi Khan range SP crimes Abbas Ahmed has also started investigation into the case. He visited Jatoi on Friday and called on the victim, her brother Shakoor and other family members at the SDPO office to record their statements. It may be added here that federal minister Dr Attiya Inayatullah had also preferred to stay at Muzaffargarh on Thursday during her visit to console the aggrieved family and instead made the latter to come to the district headquarters after covering a distance of more than 60 kilometres to meet her. POOR INVESTIGATION: Sources said the police were trying to confine the statement of the victim to the 'FIR story' which had many flaws. Multan task force coordinator of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, advocate Rashid Rehman said the FIR story did not fix any responsibility on the Penchayat members rather it would help them escape punishment during trial in the court of law. He said in the FIR there was no mention of heavily armed people who dragged the victim to the house where she was criminally assaulted. He said in her statement before the Dera SP on Friday she mentioned the presence of some 30 to 40 heavily armed people of Mastoi clan when the Penchayat was in session. He also pointed out that police had not so far taken into possession any of the articles belonging to the case. He feared that all these loopholes intentionally or unintentionally being created by the investigators would create hurdles in punishing the culprits. He said according to the FIR statement of the victim she was made to pass by the gathering of hundreds of people in half-naked condition after the rape. But the police did not register the section 354-A for the this act which was inducted in the penal code after the Nawabpur incident in Zia era so that perpetrators of such acts could not go Scot-free.

Girls & Gold Save Four From Gallows By Our Correspondent

Mianwali, July 23: Four murder convicts managed to save themselves from the gallows after agreeing to pay Rs8 million and eight girls of their family as "compensation" to the aggrieved party. The deal was struck at Abbakhel, 12 kilometres from here, on Tuesday in a mammoth gathering of religious scholars, notables of the district, politicians, and the public. Sardar Khan, Muhammad Akram Khan, Muhammad Ashraf Khan and Asmatullah Khan were awarded death sentence in a double-murder by the district and sessions judge, Mianwali, in 1988. After the rejection of their appeals by the superior courts and the president, the convicts and their relatives sought the help of influential people. They approached the Nawab of Kalabagh who yielded considerable influence on the aggrieved camp. The latter demanded Rs12 million in compensation and 20 young girls as per the local tradition called Vani. But, with the efforts of Malik Asad Khan of Kalabagh, Obaidullah Khan Shadikhel, former MNA, Malik Taj Muhammad Kund, former MPA, Amirabdullah Khan Punnkhel, Mazhar Qayyum of Piplan, Qazi Zafar Hussain, and Sajada Nasheen of Chakrala, the aggrieved party brought down its demand to Rs8 million and eight unmarried young girls. One of the girls, who is 18, will be married to an 80-year- old man.

2 Teens Sacrificed To Tribal Custom By Khurshid Anwar Khan

Mianwali, July 24: Two teenaged girls amidst fear, threats and sobs were married to the rivals of their fathers on Wednesday under a deal by which four men on death row had won pardon in exchange for Rs8 million and eight girls to be wedded to the men of the deceased's family. The girls, whose ages are 14 and 15, were married to 77-year-old Atta Mohammad Khan and a 55-year-old father of six, whose name could not be known, respectively. The houses of the brides presented a mourning scene as shrieks and sounds of cry were heard when Nikah was performed in the morning and Rukhsati took place in the evening. Sardar Khan, Mohammad Akram Khan, Mohammad Ashraf Khan, and Asmatullah Khan are the convicts in a double murder case, who are waiting to be hanged in the central jail of Mianwali. Atta, the brother of the deceased, "selected" the 14-year-old daughter of Sardar Khan for himself. Atta's nephew chose the 15-year-old daughter of Mohammad Akram Khan. The relatives and children of the convicts had approached the heirs of the deceased through the influential men of the district, particularly Malik Asad Khan, Nawab of Kalabagh; Obaidullah Khan Shadikhel, a former MNA; Taj Kund, a former MPA; Ulema, to reach a compromise. These men brokered the deal under which two of the eight girls were to be married off on Wednesday. The brother of convict Asmatullah Khan has thus solemnized Nikah of his two daughters, aged 3 and 5 years. Ismail Khan, the cousin of convict Sardar Khan, sacrificed his teenaged daughter. However, Mohammad Aslam Khan, a teacher, saved his little daughter by paying an additional amount of Rs150,000 to the deceased's family.

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