ISLAMABAD, 29 June 2005 — Pakistan’s Supreme Court yesterday ordered the rearrest of 13 men accused in the alleged gang rape of Mukhtaran Mai, including members of a village council that sanctioned the brutal assault.
“Non-bailable warrants of arrest of the respondents... are issued,” Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said.
The suspects were earlier acquitted by a high court.
Mukhtaran was allegedly raped in 2002 on the orders of the village council in the village of Meerwala in Punjab province. The rape was ordered as punishment for her then 12-year-old brother’s alleged affair with a woman from a powerful rival clan.
Mukhtaran, who has become an icon for her pursuit of justice and fight for women’s rights in Pakistan, has complained that her safety would be under threat if the suspects were allowed to roam free.
As the Supreme Court was set to hear the proceedings in the high-profile case, journalists, TV crew, NGO activists and a lot of people gathered at the gate of the heavily secured premises.
The 33-year-old launched an appeal yesterday against the acquittal earlier this year of five of the men who are to be detained. The other eight set to be arrested include some members of a so-called tribal jury, her lawyer said.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said the court had suspended the earlier acquittals, which prompted a global outcry, and said it would hear appeals from both Mukhtaran and the suspects at a later date.
“I am very happy. I am feeling highly satisfied,” said an emotional Mukhtaran, as she embraced women’s rights activists outside the court.
Six men were sentenced to death and eight others cleared in August 2002 after she defied local customs to testify. But Lahore High Court acquitted five of them on appeal on March 3 and commuted the sentence of the sixth to life imprisonment.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz then ordered all 13 suspects to be locked up under the maintenance of public order act when Mai voiced fears they would harm her and her family. However a three-judge review board of the Lahore High Court this month released them once more.
Mukhtaran’s lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan confirmed the other eight men to be arrested included members of the village council who ordered the rape.
“This is not a case of simple rape, it was an act of terrorism,” he said outside the court. “It was meant to create terror and fear in the community.”
The Supreme Court ordered the inspector general of police in Punjab to arrest the men and hand them over to judicial custody while the appeal is heard. “They should be treated as under-trial prisoners,” Chaudhry added.
Naeem Mirza, director of women rights group the Aurat Foundation, said the decision to rearrest the suspects and suspend the acquittals was a “landmark”.
“Hopefully the defects in the laws relating to crimes against women will be rectified when the Supreme Court examines this case,” he said.
