Mukhtaran Bibi
Encyclopedia
Mukhtaran Bibi is a Pakistan
i woman from the village of Meerwala
, in the rural tehsil
(county) of Jatoi
of the Muzaffargarh District
of Pakistan
. Mukhtār Mā'ī was the victim of a gang rape as a form of honour revenge, on the orders of a panchayat (tribal council) of the local Mastoi
Baloch clan
that was richer and more powerful as opposed to her Tatla clan in that region. By custom, rural women are expected to commit suicide after such an event. Instead, she spoke up, and pursued the case, which was picked up by the international media, creating pressure on the Pakistani government and the police to address the rape. The case eventually went to trial, and her rapists were arrested, charged and convicted, until an appeals court overturned the convictions. The Supreme Court of Pakistan later acquitted all except one of the accused. Mukhtar has been waging a legal battle in Pakistan, and, as a direct result, her safety has been constantly in jeopardy. Despite this, she started the Mukhtar Mai Women's Welfare Organization to help support and educate Pakistani women and girls, and is an outspoken advocate for women's rights
.
In April 2007, Mukhtar Mai won the North-South Prize
from the Council of Europe
. In 2005, Glamour Magazine
named her "Glamour Woman of the Year". According to the New York Times, "Her autobiography is the No. 3 best seller in France ... movies are being made about her, and she has been praised by dignitaries like Laura Bush
and the French foreign minister". However, on April 8, 2007, the New York Times reported that Mukhtar Mai lives in fear for her life from the Pakistan government and local feudal lords. General Pervez Musharraf, the former president of Pakistan, has admitted on his personal blog that he placed restrictions on her movement in 2005, as he was fearful that her work, and the publicity it receives, hurt the international image of Pakistan.
According to the New York Times, Mukhtar Mai, her friends, colleagues and their families are at great risk from violence by local feudal lords, and/or the government of Pakistan.
High Court judgement.
Mukhtaran testified that in June her adolescent brother Shaqoor was suspected and accused by the Mastoi of committing fornication with a Mastoi woman, Salma, also known as Nasim. At the trial, the judge commented that the accusation was unsupported.
Early in the afternoon of Saturday, June 22, 2002, Shaqoor was abducted by three Mastoi men. He was taken that afternoon to the residence of the main defendant, Abdul Khaliq, Salma's brother. (Shaqoor testified that he had been abducted by three Mastoi
men, each of whom sodomized him in a sugarcane field. The court determined, based on a doctor's testimony, that Shaqoor had indeed been sodomized and assaulted. His attackers were convicted in a separate trial.).
Shaqoor shouted for help, while being taken into Abdul Khaliq's house, and his relatives heard his cries. Mukhtaran, her mother, and other women of the house rushed outside, where several Mastoi men claimed that Shaqoor had fornicated with Salma. The women went immediately to Abdul Khaliq's house to demand his release, but Abdul Khaliq refused. Mukhtaran's mother then sent her brother to get the police. There were no telephones or police in Meerwala, and the Jatoi police station was 18 km to the north over dirt roads.
Some members of Mukhtaran's clan, the Muslim Tatla, assembled. They were told that their kinsman Shakoor had been held by the Mastoi, because he had been accused illicit sex with Salma. Separately, about 200 to 250 Mastoi gathered outdoors, less than a hundred meters from Abdul Khaliq's house. According to some accounts, a Mastoi tribal council formed, consisting of three defendants: Ramzan Pachar, G.F. Mastoi and a Mastoi clan chief, Faiz M. Mastoi, also known as Faiza or Faizan.
The police arrived before sunset, freed Shaqoor from the Mastoi, and took him to a police station and held him, pending a possible sex crime charge against him. At the High Court trial, the defense contended that prosecution witnesses could not have seen some of the things that they had claimed to see in the darkness (the village had virtually no electric power service).
Mukhtaran's family proposed to settle the matter with the Mastoi by marrying Shakoor to Salma, and marrying Mukhtaran to one of the Mastoi men, and - if Shakoor was found to be at fault - to give some land to Salma's family. This proposal was conveyed to Faizan, the Mastoi elder. According to some of the prosecution witnesses, Faizan was initially agreeable, but two men of Salma's family - defendants Ramzan Pachar and G.F. Mastoi - refused and insisted that illicit sex must be settled with illicit sex according to the principle of an eye-for-an-eye. Some other Mastoi men allegedly joined them in this demand. Ramzan Pachar and G.F. Mastoi then came to Mukhtaran's family, and told them that the Mastoi would accept the proposed settlement, if she would personally come and apologize to Salma's family and the Mastoi akath. She went to the Mastoi gathering with her father and maternal uncle. By the time they arrived, the assembly had dwindled to about 70 people. Faizan stated that the dispute was settled and Mukhtaran's family should be "forgiven."
Immediately afterward and less than a hundred meters from the akath, Abdul Khaliq, armed with a 30-caliber pistol, forcibly took Mukhtaran into a stable where she was gang raped. After about an hour inside, she was pushed outside wearing only a torn qameez (long shirt). To make an example of her so as not to defy the local authorities, she was paraded naked in front of hundreds of onlookers on the orders of a jirga
. Her father covered her up with a shawl and took her home. Her clothes were presented as evidence in court and following the medical examination of Mukhtaran and chemical analysis of her clothes at least two semen stains were revealed.
That same night, the police were informed that the two clans had settled their dispute, and that Salma's family was withdrawing its complaint against Shaqoor. His uncle retrieved him from the police station around 2 or 3 a.m.
The following week, a local Muslim imam
(mosque prayer leader), Abdul Razzaq, condemned the rape in his sermon on the Friday after it occurred. He brought a local journalist, Mureed Abbas, to meet Mukhtaran's father, and persuaded the family to file charges against the rapists.
Mukhtaran and her family went to the Jatoi police station on June 30, 2002 to file charges.
had picked up on the story. Time magazine
ran a story on the case in mid-July. Major international newspapers and networks reported on developments in the case.
The Government of Pakistan
awarded Mukhtaran with a sum of 500,000 rupees
(8,200 U.S. dollars
) on 5 July 2002. Mukhtaran reportedly told Attiya Inayatullah
, the Women’s Development Minister who gave her the cheque that she "would have committed suicide if the government had not come to her help."
on the invitation of Amnesty International
, Mukhtaran was put on Pakistan's Exit Control List
(ECL), a list of people prohibited from traveling abroad, a move that prompted protest in Pakistan
and around the world. Parvez Musharraf was out of the country in Australia
and New Zealand
, but admitted to the press that he had placed Mukhtaran on the blacklist, because he did not "want to project a bad image of Pakistan". Although Pakistan had claimed that Mukhtaran had decided on her own not to go to the U.S., because her mother was sick (which she was not), Musharraf in effect acknowledged that this was a lie.
On 12 June 2005 Mukhtaran was abruptly asked by the government to travel to Lahore
to meet with provincial assembly member Shagufta Anwar
, and then go to Islamabad
to meet with Presidential advisor, Nilofer Bakhtiar. Mukhtaran told, that she did not know the purpose of the travel except that she will have to meet "one Shagufta and in Islamabad the PM’s adviser". She again complained against the police personnel assigned at her residence in Meerwala saying that they had made life miserable for her and her family and that her aide Naseem was denied exit from Mukhtaran’s house. Further the local police were pressing her to surrender her passport, coinciding with an invitation extended by an organization of Pakistani doctors in North America for Mukhtaran to attend a moot being organized there in the current month to discuss the state of women and human rights in Pakistan. Mukhtaran observed that "I think the government does not want me to attend that moot (..) for this reason, perhaps, my name has been put on the Exit Control List
".
On 13 June following a lunch at the Chief Minister’s House in Lahore, she left for Islamabad with Bakhtiar’s secretary assigned to ‘escort’ her. Contact with Mukhtaran could not be established to know the purpose of her visit to Lahore, because her cellular phone did not respond for hours.
On 14 June 2005, at a press conference in Islamabad
, Mukhtaran demanded removal of her name from the Exit Control List, and also complained that she was "virtually under house arrest" because of the large police contingent assigned to protect her.
On the same day, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reported that she was under house arrest and that police had cut off her land line to silence her. During phone conversations over the past few days Mukhtaran had said that when she tried to step outside, police pointed their guns at her. To silence her, the police cut off her land line. Instead Mukhtaran continued her protests to the pending release of her attackers by cellphone. But by 13 June the police bustled her off, and no word was heard from her since. Her cellphone remained unanswered.
Asma Jahangir
, a Pakistani human rights lawyer confirmed that Mukhtaran had been taken to Islamabad, furiously berated and told that Musharraf was very angry with her. She was led sobbing to detention at a secret location and barred from contacting anyone, including her lawyer. Jahangir said Mukhtaran was in illegal custody.
columnist Nicholas D. Kristof
reported that as Mai returned from the US embassy in Islamabad, after getting her passport stamped with a US visa, it was "confiscated" by Nilofer Bakhtiar, after Musharraf's government claiming she was now free to travel to the U.S., and removing her name from the ECL, thus rendering her unable to travel outside the country. A column by Khalid Hasan in Pakistan's Daily Times called the government's actions "folly" and "ham-fisted", and said that it had "failed abjectly" to support the liberal "convictions it claims to have" with actions. Mai has since refused to talk about what happened in Islamabad, when she withdrew her application for a visa to the United States or who had taken her passport.
On 27 June 2005 Mukhtaran's passport was returned to her.
On 29 June 2005, on his official website, Musharraf wrote that "Mukhtaran Mai is free to go wherever she pleases, meet whoever she wants and say whatever she pleases."
Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in 2002. The ATC venue was ruled appropriate in this case because the Mastoi had intimidated and terrorized (and continue to threaten) Mukhtaran's clan and the people of the area. The court convicted six men (4 rapists and 2 of the village jurors) and sentenced them to death on 1 September 2002. Eight other accused men were released. Mai filed appealed in the Multan bench of the Lahore high court against the acquittal of the eight men set free on 3 September 2002.
An Anti-Terror Court (ATC) is a type of court in Pakistan that specializes in prosecuting cases related to terror or mass intimidation. ATCs in Pakistan have been criticized by human rights organizations for having lower standards of proof and evidence than regular courts—ATCs admit hearsay
as evidence, and do not require guilt to be proven to the reasonable doubt standard.
Mai went on to become a symbol for advocates for the health and security of women in her region, attracting both national and international attention to these issues. Mukhtaran used the compensation money awarded by the Pakistani government as well as donations from around the world to build two local schools for girls. There were no schools for girls in Mukhtaran's village before this and she never had the opportunity to get an education.
On 3 March, the Lahore High Court reversed the judgement by the trial court on the basis of "insufficient evidence" and subsequentally five of the six men sentenced to death were acquitted. The Pakistani government decided to appeal the acquittal, and Mukhtaran asked the court not to order the release of the five men, who then remained in detention under a law that allows for a 90-day detention without charges.
. Another panel is led by Aitzaz Ahsan
, a lawyer and politician belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party
, who has been representing Mukhtaran pro bono
. However, her rapists were found not guilty. Advocate, Malik Muhammad Saleem, won this case against Mukhtaran and the accused were released. The Federal Sharia Court in Pakistan decided to suspended this decision of Lahore High Court on March 11 arguing that Mai's case should have been tried under the islamic Hudood laws. Three days later the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Sharia Court did not have the authority to overrule the decision and decided to hear this case in the Supreme Court.
And on April 21, 2011 the Supreme Court upheld the Lahore High Court verdict.
, claimed that "after many months painstakingly poring through every police statement, medical record, witness testimony, and cross-examination transcript in this case, coupled with multiple visits to Mirwala, Jatoi and Dera Ghazi Khan for extensive interviews with members of both sides of this case, I reached the same conclusion as the Supreme Court has in 2011." She claims that "Ms Mai is a victim of characters around her who have used her, her family, the local police and courts for their own purposes." Ms Mai was shamefully taken advantage of and had little control over events once the charges, filed not by her or her family but by two unrelated men, went public.
The charge of gang-rape was brought to the police by the cleric Abdul Razzaq and a local journalist-cum-rights monitor who had heard rumours after Razzaq made claims in a Friday sermon. Ms Mai was not involved in the lodging of charges. Some hours later, she was hauled into the police station unceremoniously in the back of a police truck. There she found a statement already written by the cleric in her name. She was told to attest it with a thumbprint. As is well-known, at that time she could neither read the statement, nor write her name. How was she to know what she was attesting with her thumb?
The next day the charge was in a local newspaper, the following day in national and international press, and just three days later Ms Mai had a cheque for 500,000 rupees in her hand from President Pervez Musharraf. No investigation had taken place, and Ms Mai was already both an international heroine and wealthier than any illiterate villager from a wretched Indus backwater could have ever dreamed.
According to the New York Times, Mukhtaran her friends, colleagues and their families are at great risk from violence by local feudal lords, and/or the government of Pakistan.
On June 11, 2009, the Multan Electric Power Company raided the MMWWO (Mukhtar Mai's Women Welfare Organization (www.mukhtarmaimmwo.com) in Meerwala, Pakistan, disconnecting all electricity to the grounds, falsely accusing the organization of stealing electricity despite records proving they have paid all bills in full. MMWWO and hundreds of families in the surrounding area were without power for several days. Today, while the power to the surrounding area has been restored, the MMWWO grounds, which house the Mukhtaran Girls Model School, Women's Resource Centre, and Shelter Home for battered women (whose premises was raided despite the fact that men are strictly prohibited), are still enduring blistering temperatures. According to MMWWO employees, who were witnesses, the power company officials claimed that the raid was ordered by Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, the Federal Minister for Defense Production. This raid has significantly hindered the ability of Mai's organization to carry out its important human rights work, providing services for vulnerable women, girls and boys.
Mukhtar Mai Women's Organization
Hearings for the Supreme Court case have repeatedly been delayed, while her attackers remain imprisoned and her case is pending.
In June 2010, it was reported that Pakistan Peoples Party
legislator Jamshed Dasti
has threatened gang-rape Mai to withdraw her appeal in the Supreme Court against the accused rapists. Mai said in an exclusive interview to the Express Tribune, that Dasti threatened her last week through his messengers in Mir Wala (Muzaffargarh) and through the supporters of Federal Minister for Defence Production, Sardar Qayyum Jatoi, whose constituency she resides in, is putting pressure on her family in various ways i.e. to remove the police check post from outside their house. She stated her family was living in fear. Dasti, a critic of Mai, confirmed that he had requested her to reach a compromise on the matter.
On April 21, 2011, Malik Saleem, defense lawyer for the men accused of gang-raping Mukhtaran Mai under orders of the Mastoi clan, announced that five have been acquitted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan while the sixth suspect, Abdul Khalique had his life sentence upheld. Although the release of the suspects places Mukhtaran Mai in even greater danger she has vowed not to shut down her school.
The Supreme Court's decision shocked and disappointed many Pakistanis especially human rights activists.
and the French foreign minister".
In 2009 in the book "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Mukhtaran was the subject of the chapter 4, "Rule by Rape". The book is an exposé about women and gender apartheid.
In 2008 Mukhtaran story was the subject of a documentary by Catherine Ulmer López focusing on the aftermath of the rape especially on Mukhtaran's schools as well as an important look inside Pakistan, "where the impact of Islamic fundamentalism is revealed and how women are fighting its oppressive and violent impact." The documentary was shown i.e. at the Starz Denver Festival, at the 7th Human Rights Film Festival and the 22nd International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in 2009
Her story is also covered in Terence McKenna (film producer)
's documentary about sexual violence in Pakistan, Land, Gold and Women
.
, in Muzaffargarh district
, Punjab province
.
Timelines
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i woman from the village of Meerwala
Meerwala
The name Meerwala refers to both a mouza and a small village of Jatoi, a rural tehsil in the Muzaffargarh District of Pakistan. The village is north of the mouza .-News:...
, in the rural tehsil
Tehsil
A Tehsil or Tahsil/Tahasil , also known as Taluk and Mandal, is an administrative division of some country/countries of South Asia....
(county) of Jatoi
Jatoi Tehsil
Jatoi is a tehsil of Muzaffargarh District in the Punjab province of Pakistan, it is administratively subdivided into 16 Union Councils. The main language spoken there is Saraiki....
of the Muzaffargarh District
Muzaffargarh District
Muzaffargarh is a district in the south of the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is part of Saraiki Waseb. It is spread over an area of 8,249 km². Muzaffargarh District lies in the strip between the rivers Chenab and Indus, which pass along the Eastern and Western boundaries respectively of...
of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Mukhtār Mā'ī was the victim of a gang rape as a form of honour revenge, on the orders of a panchayat (tribal council) of the local Mastoi
Mastoi
The Mastoi or Mustoi are a Baloch tribe in the Balochistan, Sindh, and Punjab provinces of Pakistan.- History and origins :Mastois are the descendants of Mir Chakar Khan Rind Baloch...
Baloch clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
that was richer and more powerful as opposed to her Tatla clan in that region. By custom, rural women are expected to commit suicide after such an event. Instead, she spoke up, and pursued the case, which was picked up by the international media, creating pressure on the Pakistani government and the police to address the rape. The case eventually went to trial, and her rapists were arrested, charged and convicted, until an appeals court overturned the convictions. The Supreme Court of Pakistan later acquitted all except one of the accused. Mukhtar has been waging a legal battle in Pakistan, and, as a direct result, her safety has been constantly in jeopardy. Despite this, she started the Mukhtar Mai Women's Welfare Organization to help support and educate Pakistani women and girls, and is an outspoken advocate for women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
.
In April 2007, Mukhtar Mai won the North-South Prize
North-South Prize
The North–South Prize is awarded annually by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe to two public figures who are recognised for their deep commitment, outstanding achievements and hope they have generated in the field of protection of human rights, the defence of pluralist democracy and...
from the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
. In 2005, Glamour Magazine
Glamour magazine
Glamour magazine means:* Glamour magazine, a U.S. publication aimed at a predominantly female readership* a girlie magazine aimed at a male readership featuring photographs of women...
named her "Glamour Woman of the Year". According to the New York Times, "Her autobiography is the No. 3 best seller in France ... movies are being made about her, and she has been praised by dignitaries like Laura Bush
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
and the French foreign minister". However, on April 8, 2007, the New York Times reported that Mukhtar Mai lives in fear for her life from the Pakistan government and local feudal lords. General Pervez Musharraf, the former president of Pakistan, has admitted on his personal blog that he placed restrictions on her movement in 2005, as he was fearful that her work, and the publicity it receives, hurt the international image of Pakistan.
According to the New York Times, Mukhtar Mai, her friends, colleagues and their families are at great risk from violence by local feudal lords, and/or the government of Pakistan.
Rape incident
News accounts of the rape incident vary. The account that follows is based on the testimonies of witnesses in the court that sentenced Mukhtaran's rapists to death, supplemented with details from the text of the LahoreLahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
High Court judgement.
Mukhtaran testified that in June her adolescent brother Shaqoor was suspected and accused by the Mastoi of committing fornication with a Mastoi woman, Salma, also known as Nasim. At the trial, the judge commented that the accusation was unsupported.
Early in the afternoon of Saturday, June 22, 2002, Shaqoor was abducted by three Mastoi men. He was taken that afternoon to the residence of the main defendant, Abdul Khaliq, Salma's brother. (Shaqoor testified that he had been abducted by three Mastoi
Mastoi
The Mastoi or Mustoi are a Baloch tribe in the Balochistan, Sindh, and Punjab provinces of Pakistan.- History and origins :Mastois are the descendants of Mir Chakar Khan Rind Baloch...
men, each of whom sodomized him in a sugarcane field. The court determined, based on a doctor's testimony, that Shaqoor had indeed been sodomized and assaulted. His attackers were convicted in a separate trial.).
Shaqoor shouted for help, while being taken into Abdul Khaliq's house, and his relatives heard his cries. Mukhtaran, her mother, and other women of the house rushed outside, where several Mastoi men claimed that Shaqoor had fornicated with Salma. The women went immediately to Abdul Khaliq's house to demand his release, but Abdul Khaliq refused. Mukhtaran's mother then sent her brother to get the police. There were no telephones or police in Meerwala, and the Jatoi police station was 18 km to the north over dirt roads.
Some members of Mukhtaran's clan, the Muslim Tatla, assembled. They were told that their kinsman Shakoor had been held by the Mastoi, because he had been accused illicit sex with Salma. Separately, about 200 to 250 Mastoi gathered outdoors, less than a hundred meters from Abdul Khaliq's house. According to some accounts, a Mastoi tribal council formed, consisting of three defendants: Ramzan Pachar, G.F. Mastoi and a Mastoi clan chief, Faiz M. Mastoi, also known as Faiza or Faizan.
The police arrived before sunset, freed Shaqoor from the Mastoi, and took him to a police station and held him, pending a possible sex crime charge against him. At the High Court trial, the defense contended that prosecution witnesses could not have seen some of the things that they had claimed to see in the darkness (the village had virtually no electric power service).
Mukhtaran's family proposed to settle the matter with the Mastoi by marrying Shakoor to Salma, and marrying Mukhtaran to one of the Mastoi men, and - if Shakoor was found to be at fault - to give some land to Salma's family. This proposal was conveyed to Faizan, the Mastoi elder. According to some of the prosecution witnesses, Faizan was initially agreeable, but two men of Salma's family - defendants Ramzan Pachar and G.F. Mastoi - refused and insisted that illicit sex must be settled with illicit sex according to the principle of an eye-for-an-eye. Some other Mastoi men allegedly joined them in this demand. Ramzan Pachar and G.F. Mastoi then came to Mukhtaran's family, and told them that the Mastoi would accept the proposed settlement, if she would personally come and apologize to Salma's family and the Mastoi akath. She went to the Mastoi gathering with her father and maternal uncle. By the time they arrived, the assembly had dwindled to about 70 people. Faizan stated that the dispute was settled and Mukhtaran's family should be "forgiven."
Jirga
A jirga is a tribal assembly of elders which takes decisions by consensus, particularly among the Pashtun people but also in other ethnic groups near them; they are most common in Afghanistan and among the Pashtuns in Pakistan near its border with Afghanistan...
. Her father covered her up with a shawl and took her home. Her clothes were presented as evidence in court and following the medical examination of Mukhtaran and chemical analysis of her clothes at least two semen stains were revealed.
That same night, the police were informed that the two clans had settled their dispute, and that Salma's family was withdrawing its complaint against Shaqoor. His uncle retrieved him from the police station around 2 or 3 a.m.
The following week, a local Muslim imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
(mosque prayer leader), Abdul Razzaq, condemned the rape in his sermon on the Friday after it occurred. He brought a local journalist, Mureed Abbas, to meet Mukhtaran's father, and persuaded the family to file charges against the rapists.
Mukhtaran and her family went to the Jatoi police station on June 30, 2002 to file charges.
Media coverage
In the following days, the story became headline news in Pakistan, and remained so for months. By 3 July, the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
had picked up on the story. Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
ran a story on the case in mid-July. Major international newspapers and networks reported on developments in the case.
Government reactions
Early in July, 2002, Pakistan's Chief Justice called Mukhtaran's rape the most heinous crime of the twenty first century. He summoned senior police officials and castigated them for incompetence in their handling of the case.The Government of Pakistan
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
awarded Mukhtaran with a sum of 500,000 rupees
Pakistani rupee
The rupee is the currency of Pakistan. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the State Bank of Pakistan, the central bank of the country. The most commonly used symbol for the rupee is Rs, used on receipts when purchasing goods and services. In Pakistan, the rupee is referred to as the...
(8,200 U.S. dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
) on 5 July 2002. Mukhtaran reportedly told Attiya Inayatullah
Attiya Inayatullah
Dr. Attiya Inayatullah holds a Ph.D. in Demographics and has had a lifelong association with the Family Planning Association of Pakistan. She has an international standing in the field of population planning, and has remained a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO, as well as a leading member of...
, the Women’s Development Minister who gave her the cheque that she "would have committed suicide if the government had not come to her help."
Exit-Control List
On 10 June 2005, shortly before she was scheduled to fly to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on the invitation of Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, Mukhtaran was put on Pakistan's Exit Control List
Exit Control List
The Exit Control List is maintained by the government of Pakistan under the Exit from Pakistan Ordinance. Those persons on the list are prohibited from leaving Pakistan....
(ECL), a list of people prohibited from traveling abroad, a move that prompted protest in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and around the world. Parvez Musharraf was out of the country in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, but admitted to the press that he had placed Mukhtaran on the blacklist, because he did not "want to project a bad image of Pakistan". Although Pakistan had claimed that Mukhtaran had decided on her own not to go to the U.S., because her mother was sick (which she was not), Musharraf in effect acknowledged that this was a lie.
On 12 June 2005 Mukhtaran was abruptly asked by the government to travel to Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
to meet with provincial assembly member Shagufta Anwar
Shagufta Anwar
Shagufta Anwar is an MPA of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab in Pakistan. She is the Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Corruption. She is a member of the ex-ruling PML-Q party.-Education:...
, and then go to Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
to meet with Presidential advisor, Nilofer Bakhtiar. Mukhtaran told, that she did not know the purpose of the travel except that she will have to meet "one Shagufta and in Islamabad the PM’s adviser". She again complained against the police personnel assigned at her residence in Meerwala saying that they had made life miserable for her and her family and that her aide Naseem was denied exit from Mukhtaran’s house. Further the local police were pressing her to surrender her passport, coinciding with an invitation extended by an organization of Pakistani doctors in North America for Mukhtaran to attend a moot being organized there in the current month to discuss the state of women and human rights in Pakistan. Mukhtaran observed that "I think the government does not want me to attend that moot (..) for this reason, perhaps, my name has been put on the Exit Control List
Exit Control List
The Exit Control List is maintained by the government of Pakistan under the Exit from Pakistan Ordinance. Those persons on the list are prohibited from leaving Pakistan....
".
On 13 June following a lunch at the Chief Minister’s House in Lahore, she left for Islamabad with Bakhtiar’s secretary assigned to ‘escort’ her. Contact with Mukhtaran could not be established to know the purpose of her visit to Lahore, because her cellular phone did not respond for hours.
On 14 June 2005, at a press conference in Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, Mukhtaran demanded removal of her name from the Exit Control List, and also complained that she was "virtually under house arrest" because of the large police contingent assigned to protect her.
On the same day, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reported that she was under house arrest and that police had cut off her land line to silence her. During phone conversations over the past few days Mukhtaran had said that when she tried to step outside, police pointed their guns at her. To silence her, the police cut off her land line. Instead Mukhtaran continued her protests to the pending release of her attackers by cellphone. But by 13 June the police bustled her off, and no word was heard from her since. Her cellphone remained unanswered.
Asma Jahangir
Asma Jahangir
Asma Jilani Jahangir is a leading Pakistani lawyer, advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, President Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and human rights activist, who works both in Pakistan and internationally to prevent the persecution of religious minorities, women, and exploitation...
, a Pakistani human rights lawyer confirmed that Mukhtaran had been taken to Islamabad, furiously berated and told that Musharraf was very angry with her. She was led sobbing to detention at a secret location and barred from contacting anyone, including her lawyer. Jahangir said Mukhtaran was in illegal custody.
Passport confiscated
On 19 June 2005, The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
columnist Nicholas D. Kristof
Nicholas D. Kristof
Nicholas Donabet Kristof is an American journalist, author, op-ed columnist, and a winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. He has written an op-ed column for The New York Times since November 2001 and is known for bringing to light human rights abuses in Asia and Africa, such as human trafficking and the...
reported that as Mai returned from the US embassy in Islamabad, after getting her passport stamped with a US visa, it was "confiscated" by Nilofer Bakhtiar, after Musharraf's government claiming she was now free to travel to the U.S., and removing her name from the ECL, thus rendering her unable to travel outside the country. A column by Khalid Hasan in Pakistan's Daily Times called the government's actions "folly" and "ham-fisted", and said that it had "failed abjectly" to support the liberal "convictions it claims to have" with actions. Mai has since refused to talk about what happened in Islamabad, when she withdrew her application for a visa to the United States or who had taken her passport.
On 27 June 2005 Mukhtaran's passport was returned to her.
On 29 June 2005, on his official website, Musharraf wrote that "Mukhtaran Mai is free to go wherever she pleases, meet whoever she wants and say whatever she pleases."
Anti-Terrorist Court
Mukhtaran's attackers, and the Mastoi of the so-called panchayat that conspired in her rape, were sentenced to death by the Dera Ghazi KhanDera Ghazi Khan
Dera Ghazi Khan is a city located in Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan. Dera Ghazi Khan is one of the most populous cities in Southern Punjab, and it is the largest district in Punjab in terms of area, being approximately in extent....
Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in 2002. The ATC venue was ruled appropriate in this case because the Mastoi had intimidated and terrorized (and continue to threaten) Mukhtaran's clan and the people of the area. The court convicted six men (4 rapists and 2 of the village jurors) and sentenced them to death on 1 September 2002. Eight other accused men were released. Mai filed appealed in the Multan bench of the Lahore high court against the acquittal of the eight men set free on 3 September 2002.
An Anti-Terror Court (ATC) is a type of court in Pakistan that specializes in prosecuting cases related to terror or mass intimidation. ATCs in Pakistan have been criticized by human rights organizations for having lower standards of proof and evidence than regular courts—ATCs admit hearsay
Hearsay
Hearsay is information gathered by one person from another person concerning some event, condition, or thing of which the first person had no direct experience. When submitted as evidence, such statements are called hearsay evidence. As a legal term, "hearsay" can also have the narrower meaning of...
as evidence, and do not require guilt to be proven to the reasonable doubt standard.
Mai went on to become a symbol for advocates for the health and security of women in her region, attracting both national and international attention to these issues. Mukhtaran used the compensation money awarded by the Pakistani government as well as donations from around the world to build two local schools for girls. There were no schools for girls in Mukhtaran's village before this and she never had the opportunity to get an education.
Appeal and the Lahore High Court
Although the Anti-Terrorism Courts had originally been conceived as a way to provide swift and conclusive convictions for heinous crimes, Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that ATC verdicts could be appealed in Pakistan's regular court system, which has higher evidentiary standards.On 3 March, the Lahore High Court reversed the judgement by the trial court on the basis of "insufficient evidence" and subsequentally five of the six men sentenced to death were acquitted. The Pakistani government decided to appeal the acquittal, and Mukhtaran asked the court not to order the release of the five men, who then remained in detention under a law that allows for a 90-day detention without charges.
Legal representation
Mukhtaran has been represented by panels of lawyers. One such team is headed by Pakistan's Attorney General, Makhdoom Ali KhanMakhdoom Ali Khan
Makhdoom Ali Khan , is a practising Senior Advocate Supreme Court. Makhdoom Ali Khan is a former Attorney General of Pakistan, former Chairman Pakistan Bar Council, former member of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, former Board Member of the Federal Judicial Academy of Pakistan and a...
. Another panel is led by Aitzaz Ahsan
Aitzaz Ahsan
Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan is a Pakistani lawmaker, barrister, and politician from Pakistan's People's Party who served as President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan.-Early life and education:...
, a lawyer and politician belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party
Pakistan Peoples Party
The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan...
, who has been representing Mukhtaran pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
. However, her rapists were found not guilty. Advocate, Malik Muhammad Saleem, won this case against Mukhtaran and the accused were released. The Federal Sharia Court in Pakistan decided to suspended this decision of Lahore High Court on March 11 arguing that Mai's case should have been tried under the islamic Hudood laws. Three days later the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Sharia Court did not have the authority to overrule the decision and decided to hear this case in the Supreme Court.
Retrial of rapists
The Lahore high court ruled on 6 June 2005 that the accused men could be released on payment of a 50,000 rupees ($840) bond. However, the men were unable to come up with the money, and remained in jail while the prosecution appealed their acquittal. Just over two weeks later, the Supreme Court intervened and suspended the acquittals of the five men as well as the eight who were acquitted at the original 2002 trial. All 14 were retried in the Supreme Court.And on April 21, 2011 the Supreme Court upheld the Lahore High Court verdict.
Bronwyn Curran's research
Bronwyn Curran, an Australian author of a 2006 book on the Mukhtaran Mai case and a former Islamabad correspondent of AFPAgence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
, claimed that "after many months painstakingly poring through every police statement, medical record, witness testimony, and cross-examination transcript in this case, coupled with multiple visits to Mirwala, Jatoi and Dera Ghazi Khan for extensive interviews with members of both sides of this case, I reached the same conclusion as the Supreme Court has in 2011." She claims that "Ms Mai is a victim of characters around her who have used her, her family, the local police and courts for their own purposes." Ms Mai was shamefully taken advantage of and had little control over events once the charges, filed not by her or her family but by two unrelated men, went public.
The charge of gang-rape was brought to the police by the cleric Abdul Razzaq and a local journalist-cum-rights monitor who had heard rumours after Razzaq made claims in a Friday sermon. Ms Mai was not involved in the lodging of charges. Some hours later, she was hauled into the police station unceremoniously in the back of a police truck. There she found a statement already written by the cleric in her name. She was told to attest it with a thumbprint. As is well-known, at that time she could neither read the statement, nor write her name. How was she to know what she was attesting with her thumb?
The next day the charge was in a local newspaper, the following day in national and international press, and just three days later Ms Mai had a cheque for 500,000 rupees in her hand from President Pervez Musharraf. No investigation had taken place, and Ms Mai was already both an international heroine and wealthier than any illiterate villager from a wretched Indus backwater could have ever dreamed.
Threats
On April 8, 2007, New York Times reported that Mukhtaran lives in fear for her life from the Pakistani government and local feudal lords.According to the New York Times, Mukhtaran her friends, colleagues and their families are at great risk from violence by local feudal lords, and/or the government of Pakistan.
Post-case work
Mukhtaran began to work to educate girls, and to promote education with a view towards raising awareness to prevent future honour crimes. Out of this work grew the organization Mukhtar Mai Women's Welfare Organization (MMWWO). The goals of MMWWO are to help the local community, especially women, through education and other projects. The main focus of her work is to educate young girls, and to educate the community about women’s rights and gender issues. Her organization teaches young girls, and tries to make sure they stay in school, rather than work or get married. In Fall 2007, a high school will be started by her group. The MMWWO also provides shelter and legal help for people, often women, who are victims of violence or injustice.2009 - Current
On December 11, 2008 Mukhtaran was informed by Sardar Abdul Qayyum, the sitting Federal Minister for Defence Production, to drop the charge against the accused. According to Mukhtaran, the minister called her uncle, Ghulam Hussain, to his place in Jatoi and passed on a message to Mukhtaran that she should drop the charges against the thirteen accused of the Mastoi tribe, who were involved either in the verdict against Mukhtaran, or who gang raped her. The minister said that if she did not comply, he and his associates would not let the Supreme Court’s decision go in favour of Mukhtaran. It is believed that the Mastoi clan have political influence of sufficient weight to bring pressure to bear on the supreme court via establishment and political figures. The Supreme Court of Pakistan had listed Mukhtaran case for hearing in the second week of February 2009 (hearing was expected on 10 or 11 February).On June 11, 2009, the Multan Electric Power Company raided the MMWWO (Mukhtar Mai's Women Welfare Organization (www.mukhtarmaimmwo.com) in Meerwala, Pakistan, disconnecting all electricity to the grounds, falsely accusing the organization of stealing electricity despite records proving they have paid all bills in full. MMWWO and hundreds of families in the surrounding area were without power for several days. Today, while the power to the surrounding area has been restored, the MMWWO grounds, which house the Mukhtaran Girls Model School, Women's Resource Centre, and Shelter Home for battered women (whose premises was raided despite the fact that men are strictly prohibited), are still enduring blistering temperatures. According to MMWWO employees, who were witnesses, the power company officials claimed that the raid was ordered by Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, the Federal Minister for Defense Production. This raid has significantly hindered the ability of Mai's organization to carry out its important human rights work, providing services for vulnerable women, girls and boys.
Mukhtar Mai Women's Organization
Hearings for the Supreme Court case have repeatedly been delayed, while her attackers remain imprisoned and her case is pending.
In June 2010, it was reported that Pakistan Peoples Party
Pakistan Peoples Party
The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan...
legislator Jamshed Dasti
Jamshed Dasti
Jamshed Dasti is a MNA in Pakistan fromMuzaffargarh , NA-178, which is a district in the south of the Punjab province of Pakistan...
has threatened gang-rape Mai to withdraw her appeal in the Supreme Court against the accused rapists. Mai said in an exclusive interview to the Express Tribune, that Dasti threatened her last week through his messengers in Mir Wala (Muzaffargarh) and through the supporters of Federal Minister for Defence Production, Sardar Qayyum Jatoi, whose constituency she resides in, is putting pressure on her family in various ways i.e. to remove the police check post from outside their house. She stated her family was living in fear. Dasti, a critic of Mai, confirmed that he had requested her to reach a compromise on the matter.
On April 21, 2011, Malik Saleem, defense lawyer for the men accused of gang-raping Mukhtaran Mai under orders of the Mastoi clan, announced that five have been acquitted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan while the sixth suspect, Abdul Khalique had his life sentence upheld. Although the release of the suspects places Mukhtaran Mai in even greater danger she has vowed not to shut down her school.
The Supreme Court's decision shocked and disappointed many Pakistanis especially human rights activists.
Awards and acclaim
- On 2 August 2005, the Pakistani government awarded Mukhtaran the Fatima JinnahFatima JinnahFatima Jinnah , was one of the figurative and pioneering woman figure in Pakistan Movement and was the younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. An active political figure in the movement for independence from the British Raj, she is commonly known in Pakistan as Khātūn-e...
gold medal for bravery and courage. - 2 November 2005, The US magazine GlamourGlamour (magazine)Glamour is a women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. Founded in 1939 in the United States, it was originally called Glamour of Hollywood....
named Mukhtaran as their Woman Of The Year. - 12 January 2006, Mukhtaran Mai published her memoir with the collaboration of Marie-Thérèse Cuny under the title "Déshonorée." The originating publisher of the book is OH ! Editions in France and her book is published simultaneously in German by Droemer Verlag under the title "Die Schuld, eine Frau zu sein".
- January 16, 2006, to coincide with the publication of her memoir, Mukhtaran Mai travelled to ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) and was received by Foreign MinisterMinister of Foreign Affairs (France)Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for...
Philippe Douste-BlazyPhilippe Douste-BlazyPhilippe Douste-Blazy is a French centre-right politician. He served as Minister for Health , Minister of Culture and Foreign Minister in the cabinet of Dominique de Villepin .Douste-Blazy is also a cardiologist and Christian Democrat politician from Lourdes...
. - 2 May 2006, Mukhtaran spoke at the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
headquarters in New York. In an interview with United Nations TV, Mai said that "she wanted to get the message across to the world that one should fight for their rights and for the rights of the next generation." She was welcomed by UN Under-Secretary GeneralUnder-Secretary-General of the United NationsAn Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Secretary-General for a renewable term of four years....
Shashi TharoorShashi TharoorShashi Tharoor is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala...
, who said, “I think it is fair to say that anyone who has the moral courage and internal strength to turn such a brutal attack into a weapon to defend others in a similar position, is a hero indeed, and is worthy of our deepest respect and admiration”. - 31 October 2006, Mukhtaran's memoir was released in the United States, titled "In the Name of Honor: A Memoir."
- 15 November 2006, Pakistan's lower house of Parliament voted to alter its rape laws to move them from religious law to penal code, effectively separating rape from adultery. It also modifies the law to no longer require that the victim produce four witnesses of the assault, and it allows circumstantial and forensic evidence be used for investigation. The bill reduced the penalty for adultery from execution to a maximum of five years' incarceration and a 10,000 rupee fine. A modified version of the bill, called the Protection of Women Bill, was signed by Musharraf in late 2006. Critics of the final version of the law complained that "[a] judge can still decide whether rape cases will be heard in a civil or an Islamic court. Rape victims will have to report their complaints to district courts, not at local police stations, compelling many to travel long distances. As a result, many will be discouraged." January 24, 2007
- In March 2007, Mukhtaran formally received the 2006 North-South PrizeNorth-South PrizeThe North–South Prize is awarded annually by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe to two public figures who are recognised for their deep commitment, outstanding achievements and hope they have generated in the field of protection of human rights, the defence of pluralist democracy and...
of the Council of EuropeCouncil of EuropeThe Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
for her contribution to human rights. - In April 2007, Mukhtaran Mai won the North-South PrizeNorth-South PrizeThe North–South Prize is awarded annually by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe to two public figures who are recognised for their deep commitment, outstanding achievements and hope they have generated in the field of protection of human rights, the defence of pluralist democracy and...
from the Council of EuropeCouncil of EuropeThe Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
. In 2005, Glamour MagazineGlamour magazineGlamour magazine means:* Glamour magazine, a U.S. publication aimed at a predominantly female readership* a girlie magazine aimed at a male readership featuring photographs of women...
named her "Glamour Woman of the Year". - In October 2010, Laurentian UniversityLaurentian UniversityLaurentian University , was incorporated on March 28, 1960, is a mid-sized bilingual university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada....
of Canada decided to award an honourary doctorate degree to Mukhtar Mai.
In popular culture
Mukhtaran memoir was first published in France by Oh! editions under the title "Déshonorée". It has been published in 23 languages including English by under the title "In the name of honor". Her autobiography ranked #3 on the bestseller list in France and movies about her are in the making. She has been praised by dignitaries like Laura BushLaura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
and the French foreign minister".
In 2009 in the book "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Mukhtaran was the subject of the chapter 4, "Rule by Rape". The book is an exposé about women and gender apartheid.
In 2008 Mukhtaran story was the subject of a documentary by Catherine Ulmer López focusing on the aftermath of the rape especially on Mukhtaran's schools as well as an important look inside Pakistan, "where the impact of Islamic fundamentalism is revealed and how women are fighting its oppressive and violent impact." The documentary was shown i.e. at the Starz Denver Festival, at the 7th Human Rights Film Festival and the 22nd International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in 2009
Her story is also covered in Terence McKenna (film producer)
Terence McKenna (film producer)
Terence McKenna is an award winning Canadian documentary filmmaker.He has collaborated with his brother Brian McKenna, also an award winning filmmaker.-Partial filmography:* The Secret History of 9/11, 2006* Land, Gold and Women, 2006...
's documentary about sexual violence in Pakistan, Land, Gold and Women
Land, Gold and Women
Land, Gold and Women is a documentary about the conditions of women in rural Pakistan. It chronicles the traditional use of ritual gang rape as a method of social control. Central to the film are the stories of Mukhtar Mai, and Dr. Shazia Khalid. The documentary was first broadcast on 5 March...
.
Marriage
On March 15, 2009, Mai married Nasir Abbas Gabol, a police constable from the area near MultanMultan
Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
, in Muzaffargarh district
Muzaffargarh District
Muzaffargarh is a district in the south of the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is part of Saraiki Waseb. It is spread over an area of 8,249 km². Muzaffargarh District lies in the strip between the rivers Chenab and Indus, which pass along the Eastern and Western boundaries respectively of...
, Punjab province
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
.
External links
Court judgments- Text of the Meerwala case judgment - Court case judgements
Timelines
- Mukhtar Mai - history of a rape case - BBC News timeline.