Mukhtaran Bibi

From NY Times article Sentenced to be Raped:

In June 2002, the police say, members of a high-status tribe sexually abused one of Ms. Mukhtaran's brothers and then covered up their crime by falsely accusing him of having an affair with a high-status woman. The village's tribal council determined that the suitable punishment for the supposed affair was for high-status men to rape one of the boy's sisters, so the council sentenced Ms. Mukhtaran to be gang-raped. As members of the high-status tribe danced in joy, four men stripped her naked and took turns raping her. Then they forced her to walk home naked in front of 300 villagers. In Pakistan's conservative Muslim society, Ms. Mukhtaran's duty was now clear: she was supposed to commit suicide. [....] But instead of killing herself, Ms. Mukhtaran testified against her attackers and propounded the shocking idea that the shame lies in raping, rather than in being raped. The rapists are now on death row, and President Pervez Musharraf presented Ms. Mukhtaran with the equivalent of $8,300 and ordered round-the-clock police protection for her. Ms. Mukhtaran, who had never gone to school herself, used the money to build one school in the village for girls and another for boys - because, she said, education is the best way to achieve social change. The girls' school is named for her, and she is now studying in its fourth-grade class. "Why should I have spent the money on myself?" she asked, adding, "This way the money is helping all the girls, all the children."

Unfortunately, the money is running out and the Pakistani government has reneged on promises to provide more funding. Members of the "high-status" tribe are allegedly planning on murdering Bibi and her whole family as soon as the police protection leaves.

Comments

[Aadil.mu]

It's a sick sad world. What could be done to save the woman?

[asra7]

The following link gives information on how to help Mukhtaran Bibi
http://tomwatson.typepad.com/tom_watson/2004/09/mukhtaran_bibi_.html

[asra7]

The following link gives information about how to help Mukhtaran Bibi
http://tomwatson.typepad.com/tom_watson/2004/09/mukhtaran_bibi_.html

[Basil]

If anybody's interested, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtaran_Bibi) has details of the story, and a link to the full text of the Lahore High Court judgement (http://www.dawn.com/2005/03/10/nat11.htm)

[robelicit]

hello yall, I agree, it's a damn sick world when this kind of thing is approved my powerful local elders of a city/group...
So the big question is obviously THIS::
What political and religious/cultural groups support these kinds of rape
or torture of women?
AND, why don't we complain about this
all over the web & the tv media...is it because we are AFRAID of the political/religious
leaders/money/conflict that is involved
in stopping this kind of human abuse
of 3rd world women!?
well, Peace thru accountability,
Rob M. =][=