Mukhtar Mai vows to move SC
* Says verdict shattered her confidence in legal system
* Rashid says govt will file appeal
To lead rally in Multan tomorrow
MULTAN: Mukhtar Mai will lead a rally to mark International Women’s Day tomorrow (Monday) in Multan. The Pattan Development Organisation, Khawateen Councillors Network and South Punjab NGOs’ Forum will organise activities to mark the day. Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Huma, Haleema, Bushra, Saboor and Mustafa said that activities would begin on Sunday (today) at 10:00am. Theatrical groups will act on women’s issues and a cultural night will be observed at the Pattan Development Organisation’s office the same day. A rally will be organised from Allama Iqbal Park to Kalima Chowk, which will be led by Mukhtar Mai and Dr Farzana Bari. staff report
MULTAN: The number of police constables protecting Mukhtar Mai has been increased from three to six, while one policeman will accompany her at all times if she leaves her village. “We have increased the number of policemen at Meerwala police post to six because Mukhtar Mai is not feeling safe since the acquittal of five people accused of gang-raping her,” Muzaffargarh District Police Officer Syed Ahsan Mehboob told Daily Times on Saturday. He said that although the accused could not be released from prison because the LHC had not issued their release orders, security had been increased for her. Meanwhile, relatives of the accused distributed sweets and rice among poor people to celebrate their acquittal. staff report
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Expressing distress over the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision to acquit five men accused of gang-raping her, Mukhtar Mai said on Saturday that she would move the Supreme Court against the verdict.
Mukhtar Mai was allegedly gang-raped in Meerwala (Muzaffargarh) about three years ago. An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Dera Ghazi Khan sentenced five out of the six accused to death and fined them, but the LHC’s Multan Bench acquitted five of the accused on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference, Mukhtar Mai said her life and the lives of her family members were endangered because of the acquittal. She said that the LHC Multan Bench’s verdict had shattered her confidence in the country’s legal system.
She demanded senior officials of the judiciary maintain the death penalty on the accused, which was awarded by Dera Ghazi Khan ATC Judge Zulfikar Ali Malik.
Mukhtar Mai also demanded senior government officials detain the accused under the preventive detention law. She said several prominent lawyers including Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians leader Atizaz Ahsan had wanted to represent her in a court of law.
Earlier, Mukhtar Mai told reporters in Multan that the LHC verdict was a loss of the state because it (the state) was pursuing her case. She also said no government official had contacted her after the verdict.
“The verdict has neither disappointed me nor frustrated me. However, it has shocked me. I am going to struggle, not for myself but for the rights of other oppressed women,” she added. “I won’t leave my house or village at any cost and will continue my mission against outdated and un-Islamic customs and traditions. It is not my mission to take the Mastois to task,” she said. The Mastoi clan had offered her Rs 2.5 million as compensation, she said.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that the government would file an appeal in the Supreme Court in the Mukhtaran Mai case. Sheikh Rashid said that the decision to file an appeal against the Lahore High Court’s verdict had been taken at the highest level.
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