Courageous rape victim fights back

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Times
By Zahid Hussain
Our correspondent returns to Meerwala and finds a woman who has found the strength to challenge Pakistan's male hierarchy




IN A Pakistani village so backward and remote that it has yet to receive electricity or running water a frail, half-literate, 32-year-old woman taught the Koran yesterday to 80 girls sitting cross-legged on the concrete floor of her school.

But Mukhtaran Mai is no ordinary teacher. She was the victim of a particularly appalling gang rape three years ago who, almost uniquely in Pakistan, refused meekly to accept what happened to her. She has since become a champion of her country’s oppressed women and an inspiration to human rights activists everywhere.

Yesterday alone more than 1,500 poor people arrived in her village from far and wide to show their support for this courageous woman. “Move forward Mai, we are with you,” they chanted. Visibly moved, she told them: “Even if I don’t succeed in my struggle, I will keep trying until my death.”

Ms Mai now addresses rallies across Pakistan and abroad. She has shamed her Government into supporting her battle for justice. Thanks to her growing international fame she has received financial contributions from around the world. These she has used to build the first school for girls in her village, Meerwala, in the southern Punjab province.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1526019,00.html