Mukhtar Mai

Mukhtaran Bibi is a woman in Meerwala, a small and very poor village of Jatoi, a rural Tehsil (county) in the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan. Mukhtaran Bibi, also known as Mukhtar Mai, Mukhtiar or just Mukhtaran, was raped, apparently on the demands of a mob, crowd, gathering or council of a local clan known as the Mastoi.

File:Mukhtaran Bibi.jpg

Meerwala has challenged a local tribal council's injustice

There is a great deal of variance in the news accounts of the incident. The account that follows is therefore based on the testimonies of witnesses in the court that sentenced Mukhtaran's rapists to death.

Summary of the story, based on the court record

In June of 2002, Mukhtaran's brother Shakoor, a young adolescent, was accused by the Mastoi of committing ziadti (rape, sodomy or illegal sex) or zina (fornication or adultery) with a Mastoi girl, Salma, also known as Nasim. This accusation was almost certainly false (and at the trial court, the judge commented that the accusation was unsupported.)

Early in the afternoon of Saturday, June 22, 2002, Shakoor was abducted by some Mastoi men. He was taken that afternoon to the residence of the main defendant, Abdul Khaliq, Salma's brother, and confined there until the evening. (Shakoor testified that he had been abducted by three Mastoi men, each of whom sodomized him in a sugarcane field. On the basis of a doctor's testimony, the court determined that Shakoor had indeed been sodomized.)

That evening, a Mastoi akath (small crowd, gathering, or informal council) of about 200 to 250 Mastoi gathered. According to some, a Mastoi panchayat (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 akath was told that Shakoor had committed ziadti (rape, sodomy, or illegal sex) with Salma.

A separate akath of Mukhtaran's Tatla clan gathered at another place, after her family learned that Shakoor was being held by the Mastoi. They were told that their kinsman Shakoor had been held by the Mastoi because he had been accused of committing ziadti or zina with Salma. Someone from the village went to bring the police. (Meerwala had no telephones, police station or police.) That evening, the police came and freed Shakoor from the Mastoi and took him to a police station and held him, pending a possible sex-crime charge against him.

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 enragedly demanded revenge of zina for zina. Some other Mastoi men 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 akath with her father and maternal uncle.

Addressing the akath, which had been dispersing and by this time had dwindled to about 70 people, Faizan stated that the dispute was settled and Mukhtaran's family should be "forgiven."

Immediately afterwards and less than a hundred meters from the akath, Abdul Khaliq, armed with a pistol, forcibly took Mukhtaran inside into a dwelling where he, G.F. Mastoi and two other defendants raped her. Her father and uncle were kept from saving her, and were kept outside, by armed Mastoi men. (A deposition by Dr. Shahida Safdar, who medically examined Mukhtaran, stated that she found bruises on the victim, and that the medical evidence supported a finding of rape.)

After about an hour inside, she was pushed outside wearing only a torn qameez (long shirt). The rest of her clothes were thrown out with her. Her father covered her up and took her home. (The clothes were presented as evidence in court.)

That same night, the police were informed that the two clans had settled their dispute, and that Salma's family were withdrawing their complaint against Shakoor. His relatives retrieved him from the police station around 2 or 3 A.M.

A local Muslim imam (mosque prayer leader), Moulvi Abdul Razzaq, condemned the rape in his sermon on the Friday after it occurred. He brought a journalist to meet Mukhtaran's family, and persuaded them to file charges against her rapists.

Mukhtaran and her family went to the Jatoi police station on June 30th to file charges.

Media coverage

In the next few days, the story became headline news in Pakistan, and remained so for months. Many versions of the story were reported in the days that followed, and variances persist to this day.

By July 3rd, the BBC 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.

Court verdict

Mukhtaran's attackers, and the Mastoi of the so-called panchayat that conspired in her rape, were sentenced to death by the Dera Ghazi Khan anti-terrorist court. An anti-terrorist court is a type of court in Pakistan that specializes in prosecuting cases related to terror or mass intimidation. The 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.

Aftermath

Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf ordered police protection for her, as there are rumors that relatives of the rapists are planning to kill her in revenge. Musharraf also awarded a financial payment of Rs.500,000 (about $8000) which Mukhtaran used to build two local schools, one for girls and another for boys.

External link

Mukhtaran Bibi, Hero - Tom Watson

News Stories

Selected news stories, arranged chronologically.

Commentary

The power of Pakistan's progressive press. Kamila Shamsie, Guardian, Sep 6, 2004