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Panchayat Members Arrested for Ordering ‘Revenge Rape’

Multan (July 26, 2017): The suspect who raped a 17-year-old girl in Multan’s Muzaffarabad area on the orders of Panchayat (village council) has been eventually been arrested.

According to the details, case has been registered against members of a panchayat (village council) in Multan,  who allegedly ordered ‘revenge rape’ of a 16-year-old girl.

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The police have arrested 20 council members, who ordered the rape.

On July 16, 12-year-old Shamim Bibi was allegedly raped by Umer Wada. A Panchayat headed by Ameen and Saeed Patwari was held to declare the verdict in the incident.According to local police, the panchayat was assembled in Muzaffarabad’s Rajpur area after a man named Umar Wada allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl on July 16.

On orders of the panchayat, two days later on July 18, the family of the rape victim arrived at the residence of accused Umar Wada, where the 16-year-old sister of the accused was raped by Ashfaq, the brother of the 12-year-old girl, in revenge, police said.

The Panchayat members directed Shamim Bibi’s brother Ishfaque to avenge the incident, while raping Wada’s sister Azra.On July 18, Ishfaque raped Azra while complying with the council’s orders.

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Shamim’s family had registered a case against Wada in Women Police Centre. However; when Azra’s parents came to know of the incident they also filed a case against Ishfaque.

Muzaffarbad police came into action after receiving information of Panchayt’s decision and arrested the council head Ameen and several others.

A search is currently under way for the remaining men including the main accused, who fled the scene following the incident.Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken notice of the incident and sought a report from the Multan capital city police officer (CCPO).

The chief minister has directed that justice should be provided to the affected family.

Jirgas, or village councils formed of local elders, are a traditional means of settling disputes in Pakistan´s rural areas, where courts and lawyers are not always accessible or trusted.

But such councils are illegal and have been under fire for their controversial decisions, especially regarding women.

A jirga was involved in one of South Asia´s most infamous cases of sexual violence against women when, in 2002, it ordered the gang rape of a woman called Mukhtar Mai after her brother was falsely accused of rape.

Mai made the unusual decision to defy her rapists and take them to court. Her attackers walked free but she went on to become a high-profile women´s rights activist.
Her story inspired an opera, “Thumbprint”, which opened in New York in 2014 and premiered in Los Angeles last month.

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