Lahore, Pakistan
Four of the men convicted in a notorious gang rape were freed this week, pending a new trial by the Supreme Court. In 2002, the village council in remote Meerwala ordered that Mukhtaran Mai be gang-raped by four men, as a punishment for her family because her brother had taken a lover from a rival tribe. The four men, along with two council members, were sentenced to death. Last month, an Islamic court overturned the convictions, but then a higher Islamic court overturned that ruling. The Supreme Court agreed to take the case, but set no date for the new trial, and the men have been released. Gang rape is common in tribal areas of Pakistan, but victims almost never come forward. Mai, who has become a hero among Pakistani women, says she now fears for her life.
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