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Six
people have been condemned to death and each has also been fined
40,000 rupees (about 670 dollars)
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DERA
GHAZI KHAN, Pakistan, Sept 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Six men
were early Sunday sentenced to death by hanging by an anti-terrorism
court here for their part in a gang-rape sanctioned by a tribal council
in Pakistan, news agencies reported.
Eight
others were acquitted over the incident which shocked this Islamic
nation of 145 million and sparked international outrage, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
Thirty-year-old
divorcee Mukhtiar Mai was raped for more than an hour in a hut in the
Punjab village of Meerwala, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of here,
to atone for her younger brother's alleged affair with a sister of one
of the accused rapists.
"Six
people have been condemned to death and each has also been fined 40,000
rupees (about 670 dollars). The six include all four rapists and two
members of the tribal council which ordered the rape," police
official Latis Chandio told AFP.
The
four convicted rapists were named as Mohammad Fayyaz, Alahditta, Abdul
Khaliq and Ghulam Farid. The tribal council members also sentenced to
death were identified as Faiz Mastoi and Ramzan Bachhar.
Hazoor
Baksh, brother of the victim, said he was happy justice had been done. "We
are grateful to God. The oppressors have met their end -- this is truly
justice," he said, but added that all 14 accused should have been
punished.
"These
acquittals are due to police negligence. They all should have been
punished as they were part of the (tribal council) which ordered the
gang-rape. But still we have no regrets," Baksh said.
Senior
defense counsel Malik Saleem said the convictions would be appealed
within seven days.
"The
president of the country announced cash compensation of 500,000 rupees
(about 8,500 dollars) for the complainant before waiting to see whether
the allegations were right or wrong," he said.
"This
judgment has been delivered under duress. The judge was clearly under
pressure from the media, the government and the Supreme Court. We are
going to appeal."
Prosecutors
had demanded the death penalty for all 14 accused, including the four
men charged with raping Mai and 10 members of the informal village
council charged with approving the June 22 attack.
The
convicted attackers belong to the powerful Mastoi clan which had
allegedly engaged in intimidation of Mai's family and prosecution
witnesses.
"The
Mastoi tribesmen are revengeful and they are threatening us. We are not
afraid of dying. Even if we die, even if they kill us, we will have the
satisfaction before Allah (God) that we raised our voice against
barbarism," chief prosecution witness Abdul Razak earlier told AFP.
The
rape victim, Mai, told journalists at her guarded home on Saturday that
she wanted her attackers punished by death. But her brother Baksh said
his family was living in fear.
"The
police are all around us, they say they will protect us, but we don't
know what will happen.
"We
don't want to live the rest of our lives under police escort. But we are
praying to God that those who committed wrong against us get the
punishment they deserve," he said. Mai said she had received
repeated threats from the Mastoi clan.
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Muktar
Mai, the 30-year-old divorced gang-rape victim, comforted by
her mother and uncle at her home
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"They
are threatening that if their people are hanged, then they will kill two
of (my clan's) tribesmen for each man hanged."
Dozens
of black-clad police commandos, court officials, lawyers, journalists
and other observers had arrived at the court early Saturday, but judge
Malik Zulfikar Ali did not appear until just after midnight local time
(0005 GMT).
Some
of those waiting were at a loss to explain the absence of the judge
after a month of hearings into what Pakistan's Supreme court labeled
"the most heinous crime in 21st century Pakistan".
"This
is a test of nerves, unbelievable. We don't know why he has taken so
long," said defense lawyer Yasir Khosa. "We fear that he
is being pressurized ... this is astonishing," he said.
Senior
defense counsel Malik Saleem was clearly angry when the judge finally
announced his verdict early Sunday.
"This
inexplicable delay in announcing the judgment when he has already
resolved is mind-boggling, and perhaps evidence that he was under
pressure to deliver a favorable decision which would please the
government," he said. The delivery of the verdict had already been
postponed last Tuesday.
Police
commandos early Saturday sealed off the court in this Punjabi district
capital 400 kilometers (240 miles) south of Islamabad.
The
concept of vendetta is unacceptable according to Islamic teachings.
Sheikh Ikrama Sabri, the Mufti of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) & Khatib of
Al-Aqsa Mosque, states said that in times of war, “it is not
permissible for Muslims to rape female captives under the notion of
reciprocity. There is nothing like that in Islam. However, if the enemy
kills Muslim captives, we are permitted to kill their captives in
retaliation.”
IslamOnline’s
fatwa department has also said that it has not been recorded along the
course of Islamic history that Muslims raped women of their enemies or
even killed their children.
Raping
enemies’ women is not allowed in Islam and it is not the manners of
Muslims. Though many rape incidents have been recorded, where Muslim
women were brutalized by enemies, there is no single record of such
incident taken place among Muslims, even as a war retaliatory measures.
Responding
to a question sent to IslamOnline on taking the law into one’s own
hands to deliver justice, and vendetta in the form of killing, renown
Muslim scholar Sheikh 'Atiyyah Saqr said: “one of the
rights Islam has made inalienable for man is the right to live. This
indicates that taking someone’s life without any due cause is one of
the most abhorrent crimes in Islam.
“Moreover,
unlawful killing mars the comfort and serenity enjoyed by members of the
society; it outlaws the society's etiquette and violates people’s
rights. All this may turn the whole community into a place where the law
of jungle governs everything.
“It
is normal in all religions and among all rational people that taking
others’ lives by assault without any right is unlawful and totally
condemned.
“..it
prohibited the killing of anyone without legal reason. Islam, the
religion that calls for moderation, combines justice with mercy. This
shows that Islam encourages the act of showing mercy and forgiveness,
and there is a great reward for whoever tries to be pardoning and
forgiving.
“Though
Islam approves of and regulates the principle of Qisas, it stipulates
that it should not be carried out in an excessive way. Instances of
going to extremes in carrying out Qisas are: killing someone other than
the murderer, or going beyond the range of those to be killed for
murder. It goes without saying that these excessive acts may lead to
perpetuation of enmity, renewal of fighting and extend the scope of
damage.
“Also,
part of the excessive forms of carrying out Qisas is the single-handed
execution of the criminal by the victim relatives without permission of
the authorities. This is not permissible. In Islam, the authorities
carry out the Qisas.” 
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