When will this end??

Atrocities against women continue to happen and justice remains unobtainable to women in some countries. The verdict passed by the Pakistan Supreme Court recently on the  Mukhtaran Bibi case is a shame to the country and its judiciary! 

Mukhtaran, a resident of the Meerwala village of  Pakistan was gang raped in 2002 on the orders of a tribal council, which saw this as a way of taking revenge on her brother who allegedly had an extramarital intercourse with a woman of the tribe. Mukhtaran was dragged to a stable and gang raped by four men. She was then pushed out wearing nothing but a torn qameez. On the order of the tribal council, she was paraded naked in front of hundreds of on-lookers. The accusation against Mukhtaran's brother was later proved to be false. 

As this shocking incident gained publicity, people all over the world condemned it and the police was forced to take action. Mukhtaran bravely went on to file a case against the men and a lower court convicted six people including the tribal chief. They were sentenced to death for this cruel and inhuman brutality. The Lahore High court later overturned this verdict and a few days back the supreme Court agreed with the High court. All the accused except one was let free and the death sentence of the accused was reduced to life sentence.

The verdict is unacceptable and it is scary to think that the highest guardian of justice has denied a poor illiterate women the justice she deserves. It is a setback to the spirit of humanity.The verdict is gonna set a bad example and people would become fearless to commit such brutalities. I don't have words strong enough to condemn this verdict. Not all women have the courage of  Mukhtaran to come up and report such events. If the ones who do come up are given this kind of treatment, the oppressed are gonna remain silent forever. Mukhtaran still lives in the fear of government and the men of the tribe. Pakistan government had initially restricted her from going abroad and it was only due to international pressure that they lifted the restriction. 

I do hope that a day will come when atrocities against women will stop and they will enjoy freedom and respect from the society.