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November 22, 2005

Pakistan: Islamic Village Court Sentences 5 Girls To Rape or Death

An article from today's Telegraph demonstrates how sexist and inhumane Islamic societies can be. Five young women have been ordered to be either abducted, raped or killed for not honouring marriages arranged for them when they were children.

In 1996, when they were then aged six to thirteen, a mullah in their Punjabi village odrered that the five girls were "married" to the illiterate sons of their family's rivals. This arrangement was part of a compensation claim after the father of two of the girls shot a man dead.

The family the girls were "promised to" has now called for the "debt" to be paid. The village council has backed them up with its outrageous order, and has also sentenced two men, the fathers of the girls, to death for not honouring the agreement.

Speaking at their home in Sultanwala, a remote cotton and sugar-cane growing village, Amna said: "It is a great injustice that should be ended. Why should we pay for a crime committed by someone else? We will commit suicide if it happens. We would be treated like animals by them. Our misery would never end as this is just another way of using us as tools in the feud." None of the women has so far been able to marry as their childhood "marriages" hang over them.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan condemned the "barbaric custom of vani", - the tradition of handing over women to resolve disputes - and called on President Pervez Musharraf to enforce a ban.

According to the Telegraph, in 2004 a three year old girl was betrothed to a 60-year old man in an arrangement of this kind, which led to parliament passing a law against vani and honour killings, which is virtually disregarded.

Three girls, all sisters (pictured) have all been educated, according to the wishes of their father, a government accountant. The eldest, 22-yr old Amna Niazi, is taking a degree in English literature, while her two sisters want to go to university. 18 year old Abida is applying to university to study medicine, and 15 year old Sajida is still at school.

Their cousins Assia, 20 and 16-year old Fatima are the offspring of their father's brother.

Mr Niazi says his brother did shoot a man from the rival family in 1996, but after the family had been making indecent statements to the girls. "I have refused to give into the council's request as it is un-Islamic. I cannot hand over my girls like goats to marry these illiterate boys," he told the Telegraph.

The case is not dissimilar to that of Mukhtar Mai from the tiny village of Meerwala. Mukhtar, who is now 31, was, according to TimeAsia:

brutally and publicly gang-raped in June 2002 by four volunteers on the orders of a village court, or jirga. Mai's then 12-year-old brother Abdul Shakoor (pictured behind her) had been seen walking with a girl from the more influential Mastoi tribe; they demanded Mai's rape to avenge their "honor." Mai's family sat helplessly while she was dragged into a room, even as she screamed and pleaded for mercy. To further humiliate her, and make an example of those who would defy the power of local strongmen, she was paraded naked before hundreds of onlookers. Her father covered her with a shawl and walked her home.

The case of Mukhtar Mai, though terrible and a despicable indictment of Islamic society in action, has an upside. She fought for her rights, and six of her rapists have been punished, with two sentenced to death. She was given compensation from the Pakistan government, and used this money to set up a school.

Now hailed as a national heroine, Mukhtar Mai has been active in campaigning for the rights of girls and women in Pakistan, to prevent further cases of such abuse.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 22, 2005 9:09 AM

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