June 01, 2004
An Eye for an Eye
A village jury in Pakistan ordered a 16-year old girl and her sister-in-law to be raped. The decision was made as restitution after the daughter of the rapist allegedly had relations with the brother of the girl. Police say the rapist had tried to rape the girl before but been prevented, so he sent his daughter to the family's home while the brother was there, then he called the other villagers and accused the boy of having an affair with his daughter. A village meeting was then called and the girls were ordered to be raped. The man then allegedly took them to an outhouse and raped them.
Pak Panchayat orders rape of two village women
Islamabad May 07, 2004 3:20:29 PM IST
In a bizzare developement, a local jury (Panchayat) in Pakistan's Punjab Province recently ordered the rape of two village women, both related to each other by marriage, as retribution for the alleged illicit relations of a landlord's daughter with the brother of one of the girls.
The incident, which took place in Multan's Dinga Kabirwala village on April 30, has sent shock waves across the country and through the ruling political establishment.
Even Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has taken strong exception to it, saying that such incidents contravene the basic social tenets of Islam.
Musharraf has directed the federal Interior Minister, Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat, the Punjab Governor and its Chief Minister Chaudhary Pervez Elahi to order an investigation into the incident and to present the report to him.
"When a proper legal system exists in the country then who allows such decisions to prosper that not only destroyed the life of two girls, but has ruined an entire family," the Daily Times and Online News quoted Musharraf as saying about the rape of the two women in Dinga Kabirwala village on the orders of a local jury.
According to the local dailies, a landlord with full knowledge and cognizance of the local jury raped a young girl and her sister-in-law on April 30 in Basti Danga Naich, a suburb of Kabirwala.
The order to rape the girls was given after the brother of one them was accused of having illicit relations with the rapist's daughter.
Muhammad Saeed of Kabeerwala police station told Daily Times a case had been registered against the alleged rapist and members of the jury. One of the accused has been arrested and the other five are at large.
Police said Ghaffar Jeer and Tajamal Naich of Basti Danga Naich had tried to rape Mumtaz, 16, on previous occasions and been told off by villagers.
On April 30, Ghaffar allegedly sent his daughter Shahina, alias Sanee, to Mumtaz's house while her brother Muhammad Riaz was inside. Ghaffar reportedly then locked the main door of the house and called the other villagers around, accusing Riaz of having an affair with Shahina.
Ghaffar then arranged for a panchayat of 50 people in his house. The jury, headed by Haji Muhammad Sultan, Haji Afzal Jeer and Ahmad Nawaz called Mumtaz and Riaz's sister-in-law Mudasan and ordered Ghaffar to rape them. Ghaffar allegedly took them to an outhouse and raped them.
Kabeerwala police registered a case against Ghaffar Jeer, Zahoor Jeer, Bashir, Haji Tajamal, Amir Nawaz and Haji Sultan on the complaint of Mumtaz's father Muhammad Nawaz.
Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Rasool has directed Provincial Police Chief Saadatullah Khan to investigate the case.
Meanwhile, a human rights committee led by lawyer Sikandar Javed has visited the village and assured free legal aid to the victims.
Mumtaz told reporters that Ghaffar Jeer and Tajammul Naich had tried to assault her many times. She denied her brother Riaz had gone to Shaheena's house to meet her and alleged that Shaheena herself had come to meet Riaz when he returned from Karachi.
She said that Ghaffar had wrongly accused her brother of assaulting Shaheena. She said that her family was also threatened that they would be forced out of the village if they reported the incident to the police. (ANI)