Re-arrests in Pakistan rape case ordered

PAKISTAN'S Supreme Court overturned the acquittals of 13 suspects and ordered them re-arrested in connection with the gang rape of a village woman whose case drew international attention, court officials and a lawyer said.

The ruling came a day after the victim, Mukhtar Mai, appealed the lower court ruling in a dramatic appearance at the Supreme Court. The case has drawn headlines worldwide, highlighting the appalling treatment of women in some parts of this deeply conservative country.

Mai has defied tradition in a country where rape victims often suffer in silence for fear that they will be shunned by their families if they come forward.

"I am happy and I hope those who humiliated me will be punished," Mai told reporters after hearing the verdict yesterday.

Mai was raped in June 2002 on the order of a council of village elders in Meerwala, allegedly in retaliation for her 13-year-old brother's illicit affair with a woman from a higher-caste family. Mai and her family deny any affair ever took place and say the brother was in fact assaulted by members of the other family.

A trial court in 2002 sentenced six men to death and acquitted eight others in Mai's rape. But in March of this year, the High Court in Punjab province, where Meerwala is located, acquitted five of the men and reduced the death sentence of the sixth to life in prison.

The Supreme Court in its ruling yesterday suspended the High Court decision. It said it would hear appeals from both Mai and the suspects at a later date, said Malik Salim, a lawyer for one of the suspects.

Mai said: "I was expecting justice from the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court has done justice." Outside the court, dozens of women hugged and congratulated a smiling Mai.

The court ruled that the men will be considered suspects rather than convicts until it reaches its final decision on their guilt and possible sentencing.

In the years since the assault, Mai has become a prominent activist for women's rights.

Mai and human rights activists have criticised the government for restricting her movement and banning her travel abroad. Mai had been planning to go to the United States on the invitation of a human rights group, but the government put her name on a roster of people banned from travelling abroad.

During a visit to New Zealand earlier this month, President Pervez Musharraf said he ordered the ban to prevent Mai from bad mouthing Pakistan. The move was criticised by the US and Pakistan was forced to lift the restriction.