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According to the 20th Century Encyclopedia of Women, Gender relations in Pakistan rest on two basic perceptions: that women are subordinate to men, and that a man's honour resides in the actions of the women of his family. Thus, as in other orthodox Muslim societies, women are responsible for maintaining the family honour. To ensure that they do not dishonour their families, society limits women's mobility, places restrictions on their behaviour and activities, and permits them only limited contact with the opposite sex.1
Rape and 'honour killings' have become widespread in some districts of Pakistan, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). A report, which is yet to be published, said more than 150 women were sexually assaulted in the first six months of the year in southern Punjab. There were also about 40 so-called 'honour killings', carried out by men who allege that the behaviour of a woman has brought dishonour to their family.2 Of the 150 women who were sexually assaulted, many were raped by more than one man.
THE MEERAWALA CASE
The report came a month after a local tribal council near the Punjabi city of Muzaffargarh ordered the gang rape of a woman as punishment for her younger brother's involvement with a woman of another tribe.
The case has hit the headlines in newspapers and has created furore in the country. It involved a woman from a Gujjar family, Mukhtar Bibi, 35, whose brother Abdul Shakoor, 14, was on June 22, 2002 abducted and sodomised by the brother (Pannu) and cousins of Salma, the 18 year old girl of the Mastoi tribe of Meerawala village, Tehsil Jatoi, 115 kms. southwest of Multan. Salma had complained that Abdul Shakoor was harassing her. Fearing retribution, Abdul was then taken to the elder brother of Salma Abdul Khaliq, a big feudal lord who locked him with Salma. He then informed the tribe that Abdul was sexually assaulting Salma. Mukhtar Bibi and her mother were informed who in turn reported the matter to the police. When the police demanded release of Shakoor, the Mastois said that the matter would be settled in the Panchayat .The police then secured the release of Shakoor, detained him in Jatoi police station and asked the...