In June 2002, Mukhtaran Mai was raped and paraded naked around the village on orders of a Jirga after her brother (a 12-year-old) was accused of having illicit relations with a girl from a different clan twice his age.
Refusing to stay silent, Mukhtaran fought injustice with great courage. In August 2002, an anti-terrorism court awarded death penalty to 6 of the 14 suspects. Later in 2005, the Lahore High Court (LHC) acquitted 5 of the 6 suspects, while the remaining one’s death penalty was turned into life imprisonment.
The acquittal was challenged in the Supreme Court but was rejected by Saqib Nisar. But neither did Mai lose hope, nor stopped pursuing her case. This has lead to the apex court reviewing its decision.
A three-member bench led by Justice Gulzar Ahmed fixed the hearing for March 27. The decision came after the accused sought time to hire legal counsel.
We hope that Mai is served the justice she has pursued for almost 2 decades. She was pressured into making a deal, had offers of citizenship from several countries, but refused both. We salute this brave lady. More power to the Mukhtaran Mai’s of Pakistan and the world.
