Eight-year wait for rape victim petition in SC
07 March, 2019
Pakistan’s Supreme Court took up on Wednesday Mukhtar Mai’s review petition against the acquittal of 13 suspects in her gang-rape case eight years after she filed the petition.
A three-member bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, heard the petition. It was filed in 2011.
Those acquitted in the case, including Allah Ditta and Fayyaz among others, appeared in court. They asked court for time as they did not have a lawyer to represent them.
Justice Ahmed said that they are adjourning the case and asked them to come with a lawyer at the next hearing. The case will be heard next on March 27.
An anti-terrorism court awarded in 2002 the death sentence to six men for raping Mukhtar Mai on the orders of a panchayat (tribal court). The Lahore High Court acquitted five of the suspects in 2005 and sentenced the sixth to life in prison.
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