Ah yes, I remember reading that in The News. Just shows that there are aspects of the case no one knows about, most of what we know is media hype. People are quick to lay the blame with the courts when they can only judge based on what evidence is brought forward.
Even when they do, it doesn’t matter. Contempt of court is a nothing offence in Pakistan. Any influential guy implicated will wriggle his way out of jail time or run off abroad. A lot of times there is no enforcement of the court’s verdict.
I just finished reading this. This really throws a completely different light on to the whole case. I feel my earlier comments are really unworthy now.
its not the prosecutors fault. nor is it really the courts fault either. there is a lot of room in our system for powerful people to manipulate the police and the evidence and the witnesses.
ravage, have you read the case as presented by Ch Aitzaz Ahsan (counsel of Mukhtaran) and as presented by defence counsel and then the comments by the court???
There is certainly lot of room for manipulation where the events cannot be established, but there are things that are accepted by both accused and the complainant. Even these events show that the case was hugely misreported in the press. We were led to beleive that tens of people gathered at a village meeting, decided to rape a woman and in view of the whole village, 14 people dragged the woman at gun point, raped her, paraded her naked and threatened her father and brothers to be killed if they said anything. None of which happened.
^ as far as i know ‘none of which happened’ is what the defendants claim. the acquittal does not mean that the gangrape did not happen, but that the judges had to presume innocence and prove that the defendants were infact the ones who committed the rape, something that was difficult to establish without dna evidence etc (which the police screwed up).
i tried reading the report, got lost a little way in. this is a fair commentary on it tho:
^Not only there was no DNA evidence, the circumstantial evidence also suggests there was no gang rape. You are a sensible person and i expect that you wont rely on commentary of a person to judge the verdict. Everyone of us should read it before we pass judgement on it.
Okay let me look at it and tell and BTW also read about the book : Into the mirror, the untold story of Mukhat Mai by Bronwyn Curran, an australian journalist who on twitter yesterday applauded the verdict.
okay i've read through it. the judge who decides to uphold the LHC verdict points out various inconsistencies in the prosecutions defence (disparities such as witnesses claiming whether or not her clothes were ripped, whether or not she fell, less compelling points such as why didnt her parents do anything). and he points out that since there is no DNA evidence available, the benefit of the doubt should go to the accused, not the prosecution. That still does not suggest that the gang rape did not happen, but that the prosecution's case could not be proved, that sufficient doubt can be raised in the case to deny the death penalty to six people.
Also read through the dissenting judge's opinion from pages 60-80.
The article I mentioned earlier is a good one-page summary of the doubts that the Court had in this case. It is based on the original LHC verdict from 2 years ago.
so as our esteem free judiciary decided on this heated topic and settled it. can we go back to Musharraf statement about chicks are getting rapped to get out of country.. ? .. any one..
Rapist getting away in Pakistan is not uncommon. Especially in a tribal society like Pakistan where the police works practically under the whims of the tribal chiefs in southern Punjab and other tribal parts of Pakistan.
Mukhtaran Mai family is a poor Punjabi family while the her rapist are Baloch Mastoi clan who are in general land owners in the Muzaffargarh area. She was raped as a message to the weaker family. The local police mostly baloch made up a weak case and had the illiterate Mukhtaran Mai sign it. That document became the weakest point in her case.
When a tribal society clashes with a settled society civil laws don't work. Only tribal laws work. MQM started after the famous Bushra Zaidi case. It was not that Bushra Zaidi was crushed by a Pashton driver but the problem was that the Pashton drivers after killing Bushra Zaidi were still theatening the supporters of the deceased. That is what prompted the Muhajirs to take the law into their own hands. If Punjabis had any self-esteem (which they don't) they would also pick up the gun.
.. any one..