PAKISTAN: CONDANNE A MORTE PER STUPRO RITUALE

Il giudice del tribunale di Dera Gazi Khan, citt� della regione pakistana orientale del Punjab, ha condannato a morte sei uomini accusati di aver preso parte lo scorso 22 giugno allo stupro di gruppo di Mukhtaran Bibi, 31 anni.

La violenza collettiva era stata ordinata da un locale consiglio tribale perch� il fratello della donna aveva avuto una relazione con una ragazza di un clan di rango superiore. Assolti gli altri otto imputati che avrebbero partecipato all�esecuzione della �sentenza tribale� 

Six Sentenced to Death for Gang Rape in Pakistan

Aug 31, 2002

By Asim Tanveer

DERA GHAZI KHAN, Pakistan  - A Pakistani court on Sunday sentenced six men to death for the gang rape of a woman on the orders of a traditional village jury.

Defense lawyer Mohammad Yaqub told Reuters that eight other men were acquitted in the trial before a special anti-terrorism court in the Punjab provincial town of Dera Ghazi Khan, whose shocking findings highlighted the abuse of women in rural areas.

Mukhtar Mai, the 30-year old victim, was not present when the court announced the decision amid heavy security. She told Reuters on Friday members of her family had been threatened with death if the men were convicted.

Yaqub said four men were sentenced to death for committing the rape and two others for serving on the village jury that authorized the crime.

"The four rapists and two jurors have been given the death penalty and a fine of 40,000 rupees ($675) each. The remaining eight have been acquitted.

"We will appeal," he added.

Yaqub named the four sentenced to death for the rape as brothers Allah Ditta and Abdul Khaliq, Fayyaz Hussain and Ghulam Farid. The two jurors were Faiz Bakhsh and Ramzan Bichar.

All the eight acquitted had also served on the jury.

Mai said she was raped by four men after approaching the traditional jury, or panchayat, in Meerawali to settle a dispute with the rival Mastoi clan. Mai said she went to the jury after her 12-year-old brother Abdul Shakoor was kidnapped and sodomized by members of Mastoi family as a punishment for having an illicit affair with one of their relatives.

FAMILY HONOR

The jury ruled that to save Mastoi honor, Shakoor should marry the woman with whom he was linked, while Mai, who is divorced, was to be given away in marriage to a Mastoi man.

The prosecution said that when she rejected the decision she was gang raped by the four Mastoi men and made to walk home nearly naked in front of hundreds of people.

Mai's elder brother, Hazoor Bakhsh, said the family was fully satisfied with the verdict.

"They committed a big crime against my sister and the decision was according to our expectations," he told Reuters.

Chief defense counsel Malik Mohammad Saleem told Reuters the verdict was the result of government pressure.

"It was not the independent decision of the judge. It was not according to the evidence. This decision was based on misreading of the evidence and non-reading of the evidence."

Members of the Mastoi clan were visibly upset by the ruling, which came shortly after midnight, but there was no sign of violent reaction.

On Friday, Mai told Reuters she and her family had been threatened with revenge if the men were convicted.

"We are receiving death threats," she said. "They have told us that if their four people are sentenced to death, they would kill eight of our men. Not only my family, but those who supported us are being threatened with dire consequences."

VICTIM SEEKS SAFER HOME

Armed police units were stationed throughout Dera Ghazi Khan where hundreds of members of both families and their supporters had gathered for the verdict. Black-clad elite police commandos ringed the court house.

Mai remained in Meerawali, where police beefed up security around her home on Saturday. Mai appealed on Friday for the government to find her a safer place to live.

Even though gang rapes and "honor" killings are not uncommon in rural Pakistan, the case caused an outcry when it was publicized in national newspapers to highlight the plight of women in rural areas, where feudal behavior codes still rule.

Village councils are often convened to settle local disputes and women often end up as pawns of village elders.

Dozens of gang rapes and "honor" killings were recorded in Punjab this year alone. The latter involves the murder of women by fathers or brothers for "crimes" such as marrying without the consent of male family members.

The lawyer for one of the accused had argued the rape charge was invalid because Mai was technically married to the defendant at the time of the incident.