Pakistani woman raped on panchayat orders, commits suicide

A Pakistani woman who was raped on the orders of a panchayat in Gujrat in Pakistan died after she set herself on fire, a media report said on Saturday.

According to reports, a panchayat in Gujrat asked a man whose minor daughter had been raped to rape the daughter of the rapist, Geo news reported.

The man who had raped the minor girl had served a prison sentence that a local court had given him.

The victim who self-immolated was married and pregnant. In a statement she gave to the police on her death bed at Mayo Hospital in Lahore, the woman said she was raped on the orders of a panchayat.

Her husband refused to register a case against the perpetrators. "I don't want to register a case. Only Allah will give me justice," he said.

Eleven members of the panchayat have been detained for interrogation, police said.

Rape survivor Mukhtaran Mai said that such incidents will continue until justice is given to the victims.

Mukhtaran Mai added that the treatment meted out to rape victims and their families are the reason why cases against perpetrators are not registered.

Mukhtaran Mai was raped by four men after being dragged into the house of a Mastoi tribesman in her native village of Meerwala, in Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan.

The parliament in October made amendments to the rape law which make DNA test for victims mandatory, penalise the police for delaying investigation, and allow victims to testify in court through an in-camera session.

--IANS

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