A Pakistani woman gang-raped in 2002 on the orders of a village council said she can never forgive her attackers and she hopes they are sentenced to death. The case of Mukhtaran Mai provoked a national outcry and has focused international attention on the treatment of women in rural areas. The Supreme Court will on Monday begin hearing Mukhtaranâs appeal against the acquittal of five of six men convicted of attacking her and sentenced to death. âRight now I just have one (wish) that, God willing, there is a good decision in the case ... like the first decision,â said Mukhtaran. âThey should get the same punishment ... the death penalty.âMukhtaran was gang-raped on the orders of a traditional village council after her brother â who was 12 at the time â was judged to have offended the honor of a powerful clan by befriending a woman from their tribe. Asked if she could ever imagine reconciliation with the men who attacked her, Mukhtaran said that would be impossible. âI cannot do that; I cannot do that at any cost,â she said. âCanât you understand this yourself? After all that happened how can there be reconciliation? When a person has suffered such excesses, how can she even hear talk of reconciliation? At least I canât.â
Six men were originally convicted of the attack and sentenced to death, but five were acquitted after appealing to the Punjab provincial court, which cited a lack of evidence. A sixth had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. âIt made me think âthey are the plaintiffs and I am the accused,ââ Mukhtaran said. The provincial government later intervened and ordered the six detained for three months pending the outcome of Mukhtaranâs appeal against the acquittal. Another six men who served on the village council were detained at the same time. All 12 were ordered released by a higher court this month although they remain in detention.