The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) issued a statement on Friday expressing alarm and disappointment at the Supreme Court (SC)’s verdict of acquitting the men accused of raping Mukhtaran Mai, nine years ago, and has stated that the decision would add to difficulties that the rape victims faced in bringing their tormentors to justice.
The commission said it was disappointing that insufficient police investigation and a delay in registering a case with the police had been made the basis for acquittal of the accused rapists.
ity and sensitivity to properly appraise the evidence of rape cases. HRCP said Jirga members that had decreed Mukhtaran to be raped were publicly identified as were her rapists. The commission also said that it was neither unusual for the police to submit flawed challans to facilitate the acquittal nor rare for the courts to demand better investigation where they were not satisfied with the probe.
The commission said further that the idea that delay in the registration of the rape case created doubts about the veracity of the charge ignored the trauma and harassment faced by the rape victims and added that both these aspects had been acknowledged in the dissenting note by one of the judges on the three-member SC bench.
HRCP also showed concerns over Mukhtaran Mai’s safety and urged the government to take adequate measures to ensure that she was not harmed in any way by any of the influential accused men.
HRCP also hoped that the government would a review the verdict and that the court would do all to ensure that flaws in the police investigation were removed. The commission said that the most distressing aspect of the of Mukhtaran Mai’s case’s outcome was that in a country where rape was widespread and often went unreported, verdicts such as these would discourage victims from speaking out against their tormentors or reporting the crime for fear of further agony for themselves and their families.
HRCP concluded that it could also lead to an increase in crimes against women as perpetrators would be confident of getting away. Civil society protests against verdict on Mukhtaran Mai: In response to the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict on the Mukhtaran Mai rape case, the South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAPP) in an emergency briefing on Friday at the Lahore Press Club condemned the judicial system of the country for letting the rapists of Mai go scot-free.
They have let go such criminals who not only humiliated and endangered a woman, but the whole of humanity, SAP workers said. It was unfortunate, they said, that this woman had gathered all her courage and confidence to fight these criminals. For the future, the SC has given a kind of protection to rapists encouraging them acquittal.
The meeting said that women who were already endangered and their rights were trampled, are now in a worse state thanks to the verdict. Not only this, parallel judicial systems such as the jirga and panchayat have been more solidly established.
SAP workers said that through this decision, this courageous woman has been left dejected and heartbroken because it had taken her a lot of courage to make this an international issue. Bad investigation by police had led to this careless decision. They said that civil society were united in rejecting this decision and demanded that the court take a proper look into the matter.
Other protestors also joined in together at around 3pm on to show their solidarity with Mai and condemned the verdict. Protestors included Zafar Malik and Nauman from the Aaghaz Foundation, Shumaila and Naseem Zehra from Aurat Foundation, Irfan Mufti and Farzana Mumtaz from SAP, Nighat Saeed from Asr and several other representatives of organisations, while civil society also joined in the protest.
They spent an hour at the Lahore Press Club with slogans and banners and demanded that the case be reopened and investigated further. Malik told Pakistan Today that they were against the discriminatory laws that went against women and this should now stop. “We cannot have women being first assaulted, then humiliated, and then have them even further endangered by criminals who will return with a vendetta,” he said.
“Where are the religious groups who kept shouting against Raymond Davis’ trial? Why are they not here to protect a woman who was gang raped?” a citizen asked.
