Mukhtaran Bibi: Sentenced to Be Raped

22 thoughts on “Mukhtaran Bibi: Sentenced to Be Raped”

1. Isn’t paying 5000 or so dollars to the poor girl enough for this country? What else do you demand, KO? I am surprised they even bothered this much. Until and unless the actual tribes leaders be put to justice, the puppets would remain the victims and convicted alike.

   However, hats off to the lady for not killing herself and actually bringing up the issue which clearly needs far more action than any contemplation whatsoever. We actually say this is 21st century, ha.

2. As I said above, what about the tribal council which called for the rape in the first place? Putting them behind bars would send out a strong message and maybe even prevent similar rulings which still take place in too many places around the country. 8000 dollars doesn’t cover up the fact that the people who ordered the rape still walk free. No amount of money can do that.

3. Trying to find out what actually happened. Every news story about it seems to have different details.

   Does anyone have the court transcripts from the trial?

   Is this an accurate version? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtaran_Bibi

4. Every story does have it’s angle, but the Wikipedia version does seem to give a fair overview. The main facts are clear enough though.

5. Again an “Islamic” adventure by the so-called “fundamentalists”. I, as a muslim refuse to accept these mentally sick criminally inclined crazy people as part of the “ummah”.

   Had it been the time of prophet Muhammad(pbuh). These council members would have been sentenced to death. Are we muslims? we should ask ourselves.

6. Omar, unfortunately for you these ‘muslims’ don’t consider you a part of the ummah either…

7. Its very brave and powerful for her that after such an incident, she struggled to survive and fight against her rapist. Society might consider her with no dignity, but in the eyes of all educated people in the world, she has more respect than any other ordinary person. A pen is always powerful than the sword, she dedicated the money towards educating the masses, even though she herself was not well-educated. She has valor! and for that she will prosper, I wish this trait was inculcated in all the muslims of the world. We and our society our still dominated and governed by people who say they are accountable for the people, but when the finger is at them they take no regard for their hideous behaviors and make the innocent their victims, people like these are not even near the word or meaning of the word ‘Muslim’.May God never abandon you(Ms. Mukhtaran) and protect you and ur family and help you accomplish your goals in life. Always remember God will never abandon you!

8. The whole story is touching but the writer twisted it to blame the entire muslim society. This is not the case. I do accept that there are not few such type of black sheep in the country. But the govt is in full picture of the whole issue,helping the girl.No harm shall be done to the girl Be assured

9. this woman is amazing,I can’t believe that they would sentence her to be raped…..

10. Ejaz Asi, your comment makes me sick. you are a shame to Islam.

11. Where are the holy warriors of Islam with their suicide bombs, bazookas and kalashnikovs? Are they going to wage a campaign of terror against these unIslamic council members on their own turf in the same way that they fight Coalition forces in Iraq? If America and her allies are accused of being the Great Satan why is it that the Great Satan would be trying to replace evil leaderships that abuse their people with leaderships that treat all their people as equals under law. Enforced religion in a society is the problem as it makes it an offence to question the leaders that can claim to be upholding the laws of God even when they break their own laws. Only through a secular leadership can religion be the force for good that it was designed to be – a set of moral principles that a persoon must choose for themselves. And as for caste segregation, Britain still has a class system of sorts between the posh and the not so posh, the difference being that everyone is subject to the same laws and noone is legally allowed to punish you for falling in love with someone. Love is the route to paradise, not hatred!

12. Pakistan’s leadership has always been under influence of bureaucrats and supereme tribal leaders. They cannot be challenged or harmed since they are the decision makers. If Pakistan has to progress and resolve matters properly then she must get rid of the corrupt bureaucrats!!!

13. I’ve been following this case July 2002, and have read nearly every online story in the Pakistani papers about the case. I’ve also read the text of ATC court judgement and the LHC text (http://www.dawn.com/2005/03/10/nat11.htm)

    Firstly, what happened to her was horrible, and we should support people like Mukhtaran, and the many civic organizations in Pakistan that are working for women’s rights and civil liberties in general.

    It saddens me, though, that so many people – inside and outside of Pakistan – are trying to exploit her story for their own agenda, and twisting the facts. It’s surprising that the NYT, the “Newspaper of Record”, would contain so many factual mistakes and misrepresentations in an article. They should have done some fact-checking & looked at court transcripts, instead of relying on Pakistani sensationalistic sources and publicity-hungry politicians.

    1. She was raped, but not “Sentenced to Be Raped” – that was a misleading title.

    There was no court in this village. Contrary to the reports, Meerwala did not even have a village council, at least not in the usual sense. Kristof uses the phrase “the village’s tribal council” as if the village had one tribal council representing its two tribes. There was no such thing. No entity in Meerwala had the legal standing to issue a “sentence.”

    The group labelled a council allegedly consisted of just three men of the Mastoi tribe: a Mastoi tribal elder, and two relatives of the girl Mukhtaran’s brother allegedly molested. Government prosecuters failed to prove this so-called council had issued a “sentence.” Nobody testified they had witnessed a council or village elder sentencing Mukhtaran to be raped. Mukhtaran’s own testimony was that the Mastoi elder had publicly called for her family to be “forgiven” for her brother’s alleged offence.

    2. The article says, “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.”

    As far as I can tell from the court transcripts, nobody danced or expressed joy. This detail was added to “spice” up the story. She was walking home in front of the doorway of Abdul Khaliq’s father’s hut, when Abdul Khaliq pulled her inside at gunpoint, while his armed acccomplices held her father and uncle outside. According to her testimony, she was raped by Abdul Khaliq and four other men for abou an hour. Then she was pushed out wearing only a torn shirt, and her clothes were thrown out with her. Her father covered her up with her shawl, she put on her shalwar and he took her home. She didn’t “walk home naked in front of 300 villagers.” This yet another embellishment.

    3. Kristof says, “In Pakistan’s conservative Muslim society, Ms. Mukhtaran’s duty was now clear: she was supposed to commit suicide.”

    Pakistan is very diverse, and some of it isn’t so conservative. The country twice elected a woman as its head – something many “liberal” societies haven’t done yet. Her village was poor, backwards, and illiterate. If it was “conservative” the duty of its people, including Mukhtaran, was to see that her rapists get punished, bacause rape is never justifiable in a “conservative Muslim society.” When Mukhtaran went to the police, the society reacted: within two days, the Supreme Court had summoned top police officials, demanding swift action. Headline news in Pakistan, it was anything but routine.

    4. “shocking idea that the shame lies in raping”

    The norm, in Pakistan, in Muslim societies, and in most of the world, is that rape is a shameful and horrible act. Kristof implies otherwise, incorrectly.

    5. Kristof should have mentioned that Taj Bibi was the mother of the rapist.

    6. “A Pakistani court overturned the death sentences of all six men convicted in the attack on her and ordered five of them freed.”

    Sadly, the prosecution couldn’t make a strong case, because nobody besides Mukhtaran and her four attackers were present in the room. Also, it was night outside, and there was no electricity in the village, so it was dark, and the prosecution questioned how the witnesses could have seen what they claimed to see. She didn’t go to police until a week later. Her sister had washed her clothes, so no DNA analysis. The first court convicted all four of her attackers to death, as well as two other men. Rape is punishable by life imprisonment, gang-rape by death. The LHC found insufficient evidence for a conviction of gang-rape. Abdul Khaliq’s sentence was changed to life. The others were freed. The prosecution is appealing to the Supreme Court.

    7. BTW, they were sentenced to death under the Hudood laws. By an ATC. Now they’re facing double jeopardy. Yet, we don’t hear any “liberals” complaining. So much for principles!

    Finally, putting her on the ECL was stupid.

14. Giving a rebuttal in Daily Times to the worldwide support of Muktaran Bibi, Musharraf put his foot in his mouth. “Rape is not a rampant malaise Pakistan suffers from every day”, he declared. True-because rape is not Pakistan’s favorite reportable and punishable crime. Pakistani norms are designed against the classic chauvinistic cliché: if it happened to her she asked for it. The least imaginable scenario is a raped Pakistani woman jabbing a finger in the face of the rapist. Just like when a husband slaps the wife it’s not abuse, but he is putting her in the right place. Forcing a wife to have sex against her will is legal, therefore a husband is never guilty of rape. He is only using his property whichever way he pleases. When a vadera* sexually assaults a maid or any peasant woman, he is doing the same- whatever he may damn choose with his property. So Musharraf is right. Has anyone heard of a criminal charge filed when a sheep gets molested?

    Musharraf reminded us of atrocities perpetrated daily against women in developing nations-“Kashmir and many other places.” First, Kashmir is a disputed territory undergoing guerilla warfare. I’m glad Pakistan is not. Second, the Kashmiri women are victims of crimes committed by the Indian army. In our case we have an innocent peasant woman-a Pakistani Muslim raped by (according to her court testimony) five Pakistani Muslim men in her own village. How does that bode for a place you so passionately call “my country”, Gen. Musharraf?

    “Public Relations is the most important thing in the world,” Musharraf said. Of course, that’s why he’s been denouncing Islamic fundamentalists to prove his calculated liberalism to the post 9-11 world. At home he’s reaping the financial benefits of American rewards and making the army and the elite filthy rich, at the expense of a handful of middle class slipping into poverty. In January he signed a bill against honor-killing when rapists steer clear under government protection (also see Dr. Shazia — aka Sui Rape case).

    Mukhtaran survived for her extraordinary strength of character and spirit. She is also lucky because her tragedy became public in our internet age. Nicholas Kristof and journalists like him, who consider humanity sacred and beyond racial and geographic bounds, are the brave knights of our time.

    “Pakistan is the victim of poor perceptions,” Musharraf lamented. “The reality is very different.” The reality of Mukhtaran Bibi’s case is- except for one rapist the rest were released on lack of adequate evidence (obviously her own testimony didn’t weigh much). Another confirmation of Pakistani courts (my late father used to complain) turned into a puppet theater for the government’s amusement. Meanwhile Musharraf wants to bring those men to “justice in the strongest form.” Now Mukhtaran Bibi must live with fear for her life, not to mention Musharraf’s scolding on top of her shame.

    Laws train people into certain social conduct. Granted Musharraf alone cannot turn the entire Pakistani society around, but he is the highest authority to put the defunct Pakistani courts in place with new laws that protect women. Let’s hope to see if he is wise enough or would blow away yet another opportunity to begin to set things right for the common Pakistani. As the general ponders over the complex moral issue of how must a state deal with its rapists? We must keep the pressure alive and become Mukhtaran Bibi’s voice.

15. Lubna at June 21, 2005 10:04 AM: said:Now Mukhtaran Bibi must live with fear for her life, not to mention Musharraf’s scolding on top of her shame.

    I agree with most of your comments but the one above is quite wrong in one respect. Mukhtaran Bibi has no shame in this incident. The shame is carried by the men who raped her and by the men who sought to silence her. Muktaran Bibi has great honor because she has sought justice for the powerless against those who are oppressors. She is honored throughout the world and even in parts of Pakistan.

16. Nadir on June 15 makes a vainglorious attempt to rationalize why the court had to let Mukhtar Mai’s attackers go. He takes issue with “liberals” for omitting what he considers relevant facts in their effort to demonize Pakistan. To rubut Kristof’s point that “shocking idea that the shame lies in raping” he makes the following startling claim: “The norm, in Pakistan, in Muslim societies, and in most of the world, is that rape is a shameful and horrible act. Kristof implies otherwise, incorrectly.”! His citing this “norm” in his, and other Muslim societies leads me to conclude that in his mind “rape is a shameful and horrible act…..” for the ‘rapee’ (i.e., the one who is raped) AND not for the person(s) committing this act! WOW! No wonder he resorts to hair splitting to rationalize unjustifiable actions of Pakistani establisment.

    A woman was brutally raped at gun point while her helpless father and uncle were held outside. Existing evidence must be so compelling that even the top man — Gen. Musharraf has acknowledged that Mukhtar Mai was raped. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of these feudal / tribal Muslim societies will tell you that you condemn yourself to sure death by testifying against the ‘elders’, or by just going against the ‘grain’. Given all that, the question for the rest of us is: how can any sane person (let alone a court of law) let the rapists walk based on preposterous claims that “She didn’t go to police until a week later” and “Her sister had washed her clothes, so no DNA analysis” was done?

    Nadir further writes, “When Mukhtaran went to the police, the society reacted: within two days, the Supreme Court had summoned top police officials, demanding swift action.” From what I understand, the outcry mainly came from the “Westernized” fringe who Gen. Musharraf has described as “just as bad” as the Islamic extermists! The upstart General goes on to accuse this fringe of undermining his “public relations” efforts to portray Pakistan as something other than a failed state and a mecca for Jihadi terrorists and their apologists.

    Given Nadir’s (and his ilk’s) world view and Gen. Musharraf’s concerns about damage to his country’s carefully cultivated image, it should not come has a shock to us that the victim’s grandfather is suggesting that Mukhtar Mai be murdered for bringing dishonor to the family! Perhaps, there is already a ‘fatwa’ or two issued against her. After all, according to Kristof, each day two women die in “honor killings” in Pakistan!

    These people ought to be ashamed of themselves.

17. One correction in my previous post:

    I wrote: “…it should not come has a shock to us that the victim’s grandfather is suggesting that Mukhtar Mai be murdered for bringing dishonor to the family!” Actually, it is Dr. Shazia’s (another rape victim who is currently being further victimized) grandfather who is has suggested she be killed for bringing dishonor to the family AND NOT Mukhtar Mai. My apologies for the factual error — however, the my main point remains the same.

18. I don’t understand why these tribal councils have the sort of legal power they seem to have. How is it that a tribal council, not a court of law, can pass sentance over a crime involving rape? I could see it if the victim was a cow, a chicken, a dog… even a car. But the victim was a person (despite pakistan’s treatment of women, they are still as much persons as men are) not merely an object.

    Here in Canada, this would never happen. Our city councils, town councils, rural municipal councils, etc do not get to hear legal cases or pass judgement on them. They write the local bylaws, not enforce them, and they certainly don’t get to act as judge or jury over their own laws. What’s more, their law-writing authority does not extend to matters involving rape, murder, property crimes, etc.

    That seems to be what’s wrong in Pakistan: You’ve got people writing the laws who also get to hear the case and dish out the punishment. Not surprising seeing as how we’re talking about a tribal society here. It’s only a few steps away from what happened in Rawanda. (You do remember Rawanda, don’t you?).

    Is it any wonder that we in the west do not consider Pakistan to be a civilized society the same way that we are civilized? We don’t let petty local oficials try murder or rape cases, and there’s a reason for that. We had though that perhaps Pakistan had at least learned that lesson, but it seems that they didn’t. I just hope they learn it soon so they can move on to more important things. You can’t build a society on a tribal structure and expect it to work the same was as a western society does: It just doesn’t work that way.

19. I feel so helpless. What can we do to stop this kind of violence? Or what can I do for her? Do men in the tribe know women should have basic human rights, like being respected? What’s the root problem in that village? If the problem is not identified by people in the village, the situation is difficult to be changed.

    Although the “truth” is not really known, the gist of this affair is pretty obvious. Now what’s next? As a news reader, what can I do? Just feeling or to do something. I forwarded this website to friends. Hopefully the more people know the better awareness of the importance of human rights. I wish I could do more.

20. what happen to her is so bad for her future, what she want to do,she drage the mastooi man in court.she have no profe or medical profe.now now case is in court what court take step will better for her.

21. I was reading about Mukhtar Mai and applaud her courage in such an abnormal country. It is very good that she is not committing suicide and instead fighting the system. I do have to say this much – Pakistan is not an Islamic country. It is far from it. The truth is any normal woman like that would have committed suicide in Pakistan. If she did not commit suicide, then her family would kill her. This is how the system is in Pakistan. I think anyone who rapes should be stoned to death. I don’t think the types of people who raped her should have a lenient death. They should have a very painful death. Not only should the people who raped her be killed, but the whole tribal council should be killed who create this type of ignorance. Please support Mukhtar Mai and support women’s groups in Pakistan who are protecting her. Please also try to support the girls who are forced into prostitution in countries such as: Pakistan, India, China, Thailand, Bangladesh, Vietnam, etc.

22. Hello,

    I was hoping someone would be able to let me know Mukhtaran Bibi’s complete address, e-mail address and telephone number so I can make a donation directly to her. Thank you,

    Sami.

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