Court overturns decision to clear men in council rape order case
It said that a lower appeals court had no jurisdiction to rule on the case.
The decision by the Federal Shariat Court was yet another twist in the case of Mukhtar Mai, a 33-year-old woman who was raped after elders in her village ordered the attack as punishment for her brother’s alleged illicit affair with a woman from another family.
“We welcome the decision, and we know our case is strong,” said her lawyer, Ramzan Khalid Joya.
Six men were sentenced to death in August 2003, but earlier this month the sentences of five of them were overturned. A sixth man had his death sentence reduced to life in prison.
Human rights groups in Pakistan and around the world criticised the quashing of the convictions. Mai, who has won praise for her bravery in coming forward to denounce the attack, wept as the ruling was read out.
Thousands of Pakistani women rallied in Multan earlier this week demanding justice and protection for Mai, who said she fears the men would seek revenge if released. The Canadian High Commissioner this week visited Mai in Meerwala, a village 350 miles south-west of the capital, Islamabad, to pledge money for a school she runs.
In its decision yesterday, the Federal Shariat Court ruled on technical grounds that the Multan tribunal had no powers to hear the case. It said it alone had the power to rule on appeals in rape cases. The court did not indicate when it would hear the appeal. All six men remain in jail.
Babar Awan, a senior advocate in Islamabad, said the ruling effectively annuls the Multan court’s decision.
“The appellants went to the wrong forum to make the appeal against their convictions,” he said.
Mai denies her 13-year-old brother had illicit relations with the woman, and says the village council made the order for her rape to cover up a sexual assault on the boy by men from a powerful local clan.
