Court Orders Release of 5 Convicted of ‘Honor’ Rape

A Pakistani court Thursday overturned the conviction of a village elder and four other men who had been sentenced to death for allegedly ordering a woman gang-raped as punishment for her brother’s illicit sex with a woman from another family, a defense lawyer said.

The rape of the woman in 2002 in a house in central Pakistan made world headlines and led the government to promise sweeping changes to end centuries of so-called honor killings and attacks.

Six men, including village council chief Faiz Bakhsh Mastoi, were convicted and sentenced to death. But the court overturned the sentences Thursday, citing a lack of evidence. Mastoi and four others were ordered released, and the sixth man’s death sentence was reduced to life in prison, said Ramzan Joya, a lawyer for the woman.

The woman was in court and wept upon hearing the decision.

“I am in pain. I will ask my lawyer to challenge this decision,” she told reporters.

Joya confirmed that he would appeal the verdict, and it was not clear if the men would be released immediately.

None was in court at the time of the ruling.

In their ruling, the judges said there were contradictions in statements of witnesses and the case prepared by the prosecution, Joya said.

The ruling angered human rights activists, who have been urging the government for several years to enact legislation that would strip tribal councils of their power to mete out punishments.

“I am shocked,” said Shahnaz Bukhari, a leading women’s activist in Islamabad, the capital.

She said the country’s legal system needed to be amended so that perpetrators of such violence did not escape punishment.

Joya said his client had taken a bold decision by raising her voice against the rape in the village of Meerwala, about 350 miles southwest of Islamabad.