Thaindian News

Islamabad, April 23(ANI): The Pakistan Government will provide security and legal assistance to Mukhtaran Mai, a victim of a village council-sanctioned gangrape, for managing a review of her case in the court.

Mai was gang raped on the orders of a village council in 2002 as a punishment because her brother - who was just 12 years old at that time - was judged to have offended the honour of a powerful clan by allegedly having an affair with one of its women.

The Supreme Court acquitted five of the six accused in the Mukhtaran Mai gangrape case on Thursday as it rejected Mai’s appeals against the acquittal of her tormentors and for enhancement of their sentence, sparking an international outcry over the acquittals.

A disappointed Mai expressed fears that she and her family might be killed by the accused, when they return home.

The Interior Minister held out assurance to the National Assembly that Mai would be provided with adequate security.

“The Prime Minister [Yousuf Raza Gilani] has directed me to provide proper security and legal assistance to Mukhtaran Mai. I will contact the high-ups of Punjab Police to provide her with proper security. We will also give her legal assistance according to her wish,” The Nation quoted Malik, as saying while responding to MNA Sherry Rehman in the House.Earlier, Rehman had said on a point of order that following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Mukhtaran Mai case, only one accused was sentenced to life imprisonment while the rest were freely wandering, therefore, the government should provide security and legal assistance to the victim.

However, a discussion on the issue was blocked in the National Assembly, when Acting Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi pointed out that the House rules disallowed a discussion on the conduct of a High Court or the Supreme Court, (ANI)