Six sentenced to death for gang rape

Six men were tonight sentenced to death after gang raping a woman to punish her family.

Eight other men were acquitted in a case closely watched by Pakistan government officials and international human rights groups.

Judge Zulifquar Ali Malik issued the verdict shortly after midnight local time in his chambers at Dera Ghazi Khan with all 14 defendants present.

Those receiving the death sentence by hanging included four accused of the actual rape and two members of a tribal council that ordered the assault on June 22 in the village of Meerwala.

The eight who were acquitted were also members of the council.

The rape was ordered after a high-status clan, the Mastoi, accused the victim’s brother of having sex with one of their women. The victim’s family is from a low-status clan.

In a day-long vigil before the verdict was announced, hundreds of people from the Mastoi clan, mostly relatives of the defendants, stood outside the courthouse in light rain and prayed for an acquittal.

The victim was not present but several of her relatives stood outside the court under police guard.

“I am satisfied that the judge has done justice for us,” said one of the victim’s brothers, Hazoor Bakhsah.

Defence lawyer Malik Salim said that he will appeal against the decision at a higher court within seven days.

“It was case in which all of the accused should have been acquitted,” he told The Associated Press news agency. “We will challenge this decision.”

The verdicts and sentences were announced outside the courtroom by the prosecutor and defence lawyers. Journalists were not allowed inside.

The conviction is likely to please human rights groups that had strengthened calls for greater government control in Pakistan’s fiercely independent tribal regions, where federal laws are often ignored in favour of clan justice.

Human rights advocates say that the number of atrocities against women in Pakistan is increasing. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has demanded an end to punishments by tribal councils.

The 30-year-old victim, a member of the Gujar clan, testified during the month-long trial that Abdul Khaliq and three others dragged her into a hut and raped her.

The woman testified that the Mastoi council had ordered the rape to punish her family after one of her brothers had sex with one of their women.

Khaliq and the three other defendants – Ghulam Farid, Fayyaz Hussain and Ramzan Bachar – are all members of the Mastoi clan.

The trial was conducted in a special anti-terrorism court, which has the authority to render judgments quickly. In regular courts, cases can drag on for months or years.