Pakistan Allows Rape Victim To Travel

Mukhtar Mai 29 June 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf today said that the victim in a high-profile rape case is free to travel wherever she wants.
Musharraf also defended his earlier decision to ban her from traveling abroad.

Musharraf's announcement comes a day after Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered 13 men who allegedly raped Mukhtar Mai be re-arrested after overturning their previous acquittals.

In 2002, a council of elders in Meerwala, a village in Pakistan's eastern Punjab Province, allegedly ordered Mai to be raped as a form of punishment for her brother's alleged affair with a woman.

Mai's case sparked an international outcry. She later won international praise after choosing to speak publicly about what happened to her.

(AP)

See also:

Rape Case Spotlights Women's Rights

Recent Killings,Violence Underscore Lack Of Progress In Gender Justice