Pakistan pair sentenced to death over motorway gang rape
LAHORE: A Pakistani court on Saturday sentenced two men to death over the gang rape of a French-Pakistani mother, lawyers said, an attack that prompted nationwide protests and tough new anti-rape legislation.
The woman was attacked in September last year in front of her small children on the side of a motorway after her car ran out of fuel near the southern city of Lahore.
An outpouring of anger was further fuelled by a police chief who chided the victim for driving at night without a male companion.
“They’ve both been handed the death penalty,” Chaudhry Qasim Arain, a lawyer for both men, told AFP after the verdict and sentencing hearing.
The two men would appeal the decision, announced at an anti-terrorism court in Lahore.
The attack and the subsequent demands for better protection of women prompted the government to introduce new legislation, including the establishment of special courts to speed up rape trials and the chemical castration of serial rapists.
Chemical castration of rapists involves using drugs to reduce a person’s libido. It was backed by the country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan but activists said it was unclear how it would act as a deterrent.
Pakistan is a deeply conservative nation where victims of sexual abuse often are too afraid to speak out and criminal complaints are frequently not investigated seriously.
The country has an abysmal rape conviction rate, with official data putting it as low as 0.3%.
According to the rights groups Justice Project Pakistan, the number of prisoner executions has fallen in the past few years to 15 in both 2018 and 2019.
Many death sentences are later commuted to life imprisonment terms.
At the time of the gang rape, Lahore police chief Umar Sheikh repeatedly berated the victim for driving at night without a man, adding that no one in Pakistani society would “allow their sisters and daughters to travel alone so late”.
Sheikh went on to say the woman – a resident of France – probably “mistook that Pakistani society is just as safe” as her home country.
Thousands took part in protests, demanding justice and an increase in spending on initiatives that improve women’s safety, as well as an end to victim blaming.
Much of Pakistan lives under a patriarchal code of “honour” that systematises the oppression of women and those who supposedly bring “shame” on the family can be subjected to violence or murder.
The woman was attacked in September last year in front of her small children on the side of a motorway after her car ran out of fuel near the southern city of Lahore.
An outpouring of anger was further fuelled by a police chief who chided the victim for driving at night without a male companion.
“They’ve both been handed the death penalty,” Chaudhry Qasim Arain, a lawyer for both men, told AFP after the verdict and sentencing hearing.
The two men would appeal the decision, announced at an anti-terrorism court in Lahore.
The attack and the subsequent demands for better protection of women prompted the government to introduce new legislation, including the establishment of special courts to speed up rape trials and the chemical castration of serial rapists.
Chemical castration of rapists involves using drugs to reduce a person’s libido. It was backed by the country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan but activists said it was unclear how it would act as a deterrent.
Pakistan is a deeply conservative nation where victims of sexual abuse often are too afraid to speak out and criminal complaints are frequently not investigated seriously.
The country has an abysmal rape conviction rate, with official data putting it as low as 0.3%.
According to the rights groups Justice Project Pakistan, the number of prisoner executions has fallen in the past few years to 15 in both 2018 and 2019.
Many death sentences are later commuted to life imprisonment terms.
At the time of the gang rape, Lahore police chief Umar Sheikh repeatedly berated the victim for driving at night without a man, adding that no one in Pakistani society would “allow their sisters and daughters to travel alone so late”.
Sheikh went on to say the woman – a resident of France – probably “mistook that Pakistani society is just as safe” as her home country.
Thousands took part in protests, demanding justice and an increase in spending on initiatives that improve women’s safety, as well as an end to victim blaming.
Much of Pakistan lives under a patriarchal code of “honour” that systematises the oppression of women and those who supposedly bring “shame” on the family can be subjected to violence or murder.
No need to go so far to Pakistan lah, here in Malaysia we have racist and misogynist MCA where even the women leaders put the onus on wives to take karate chop chop lessons to defend themselves against violent husbands....and Wee KHAT Siong still shamelessly beg Chinese for telur donations because his basket is kosong but Chinese throw all their eggs into DAP basket....ha ha ha so lucu this komedy party...
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YOURSAY | Wanita MCA must have watched too many martial arts flicks
21 Mar 2021
YOURSAY | ‘Domestic abuse cannot be resolved like a 1980s Jackie Chan movie.’
Wanita MCA to promote karate to discourage domestic abuse and crime
Karate class idea ignores domestic abuse realities, puts onus on victims - groups
Beman: ....Wanita MCA president Heng Seai Kie must be watching too many Hong Kong martial art movies where the fighting is nice to watch. Real fighting is messy. Anything can happen....
I remember reading the news of a martial art master who confronted a burglar but was killed instead. Besides, not everyone has a natural talent for martial arts or wants to invest time in learning what should be redundant in our modern society.
By the logic of the Wanita MCA president, all women should have a black belt in karate before getting married....
Manjit Bhatia: Patriarchy. That’s your problem. And with that comes conservative patrimonialism...
When traditionalist men treat households by subjugating women, objectifying women, misogynistic men, no matter how educated they may be, will try to possess women by disparaging them to assert their imbecilic manliness. These men are cowards.
This is what the MCA behoves when advocating women retaliate against domestic violence by men.
This only aggravates the situation and children are caught in the crossfire of domestic violence, which has been present among Malaysians for generations but which Malaysians, especially men brought up by traditionalist/conservative parents, choose to ignore....
Anonymous_15897060865429524: If you are in a marriage where you need to regularly use karate chops on your husband, chances are you don’t need more karate lessons, you need a police report and a divorce.
This shows how clueless the out-of-touch and irrelevant aunties in Wanita MCA are. They think domestic abuse can be resolved like a 1980s Jackie Chan movie....
To even suggest watching a how-to video on karate-for-beginners is absurdly asinine and laughable.....
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It's common in Malaysia as well for Malay Muslim men to make snide remarks that the woman raped was wearing "eye-catching" clothes or questioning why was she out alone.
ReplyDeleteStrict laws CANNOT inhabit a deeply entrenched & misogynist culture.
ReplyDeleteMore so with the mischievous & behind the scene support of a religion that's equally having a low asteem for woman!
Strong enforcement of a capitalized punishments for a period of time (maybe a few generations) would 'domesticate' possible/potential rapists about the dire consequences they r going to face.
It also help to meme-ed awareness within the younger generations to completely eliminate those centuary of misogynistic upbringings.
CCP has been accused of using rape as a political weapon in Xinjiang, alleged by ordinary Uyghur women.
ReplyDeleteIn such cases, no investigation of any consequence is ever carried out
Keep farting!
DeleteWhy not showing yr c&p evidenced of no substance?
When have u learnt that one-liner sophist fart from yr Formosa 犬养 mfer?
It's so easy & simple, no?
Stop fretting MonstrousBigot, your overlord white master have taken note of your fealty....you should now set up a tin Milo donation fund among you OCBCs because the people of Xinjiang is launching lawsuit against that religious zealot Adrian Zenz for malicious false reporting, massive slandering and corruption, accepting funding from BBC and other vested parties using fabricated cooked up 'facts'.
DeleteBy the way, today's not your day...a video had emerged that Col Lawrence Wilkerson admits to US involvement in fomenting civil unrest in Xinjiang using Uyghurs. The CIA wanted to destabilize China, and intelligence strategists had decided that the best way to do it would be to foment unrest among the Uyghurs in Xinjiang to create pressure on Beijing : watch this clip of Col Wilkerson speaking about this issue :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00Cvx0R8iDo
And the US State Department lawyers concluded "Insufficient Evidence to Prove Genocide in China" : Despite the Trump administration's declaration of a genocide in Xinjiang, upheld by the Biden administration, some legal experts said there are no evidence to prove genocide.
But right under these hypocritical Whiteface thugs very nose, an ongoing genocide happening now is studiously being ignored and the media in cahoots with its political masters avoid reporting on this like the plague : the ongoing genocide in Kashmir.
Gross human rights violations have occurred under the Indian army watch, according to a 2018 United Nations report. They include gang rapes by the military, and mass disappearances of approximately 8,000 to 10,000 people. As many as 100,000 Kashmiris have been killed and several thousands wounded, blinded and maimed, including through torture tactics and custody. ( Read also - Inside Kashmir, Cut Off From the World : A living hell of anger and fear ).
But of course, the free and transparent, truthful Western MSM are mute and blind on all these atrocities in India...after all, it just would not do to upset one's ally, right ? And oh, no reporting too about the killings of Muslims in India too ( Read : Why Modi's India has become a dangerous place for Muslims).
Wakakaka...just not Not_RPK Puki's day.... Col Lawrence Wilkerson...wakakaka...who ?
Deletedefinitely not a top US leader as the Bullshit video title says.
As for "US State Department lawyers concluded "Insufficient Evidence to Prove Genocide in China"" Reddit Locked that post because it is flagged as Fake News with nothing , just hot air to back up the statement.... wakakaka...
What a CCP Fanboy !
So to u flagged postings in social media r considered fake news!
DeleteWow!!
Then why u do gung-holly quoting all those western & demoNcratic postings from all media sources?
Ooop… to a demoNcratic acolyte, all news from the western & demoNcratic media r truth of the truth! What else?
Haven't u been self labelled as a demoNcratic & capitalisti fanboy?
"Shiok sendiri" is it? It is not locked ler !!!
Delete