Worldwatch

Justice Overturned
In the remote desert villages of Pakistan beyond the reach of government courts, tribal law is often the only adjudicator of local disputes — and the use of rape to settle scores is common. In June 2002, 30-year-old Mukhtar Mai was publicly raped by four volunteers in the hamlet of Meerwala in central Pakistan on the orders of village elders. She had committed no crime: her 12-year-old brother had been accused of walking with a girl from the higher Mastoi caste, and Mai was chosen to bear the punishment for her family. Victims of such assaults are...

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