A Pakistani woman and her daughter were allegedly abducted and gang-raped for 12 days

IANS:

A Pakistani woman and her daughter were allegedly abducted and gang-raped for 12 days because the daughter got university education against the wishes of some leaders of their Mirali tribe.

The News International yesterday reported the travails of Mumtaz Mai and her daughter Ghazala Shaheen Bathi stressing its parallel to the troubles of Mukhtaran Mai, who was gang-raped in 2002 on the orders of her tribe's elders in retaliation for an alleged crime committed by her brother.

The mother and daughter from Chak Sher Khan village in Multan earned the wrath of the tribesmen when it became known that Ghazala had passed her Masters in education from Bahauddin Zahariya University on August 25. The girl's father Mohammad Hussain, a retired armyman, was also beaten up.

The report hinted at the involvement in the incident of "a minister of state" without naming anybody. Despite being informed by villagers, police acted only after 12 days, it alleged, even then favouring the accused. While three accused managed to escape, the villagers prevented a car carrying the two women from driving away. Kabirwala's police chief Daud Hussain has been quoted as denying the incident. The police reportedly clarified that the two women had run away from their home "on their own". However, the newspaper said a hospital confirmed that the two women had been raped.

Pak girl gang-raped for getting education

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