MukhtaraN! MubarkaaN

on the joyous occasion of the wedding between Mukhtar Mai and Nasir Abbas Gabol, a "pols" constable. May their union be blessed now and forever and until the ages of ages, ameen ameen ameen.

Mukhtar Mai was raped by four men in her village as a punishment after her 12-year-old brother was accused of adultery in 2002.

She ignored taboos about her ordeal and fought to have her attackers convicted.

Since then Mukhtar Mai has become a champion for women's rights in her country and an internationally- recognised figure.

Six men arrested and sentenced to death in connection with the gang rape are still in custody pending a retrial.

Ms Mai had said she was not sure she would ever marry, but on Sunday wed police constable Nasir Abbas Gabol in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Since being raped she has also written a best-selling autobiography and opened a school and a chain of women's crisis centres in Pakistan.

Mukhtar Mai won widespread international support when she spoke out after being raped - allegedly on the order of a village council. . . . http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7947458.stm

I'm happy for MukhtaraN bibi. I wish countless rape survivors in Pakistan could get something of their lives back again. I wish that rape, mutilation and murder would cease to exist but fat chance of that happening with the mentalities that exist in our communities.

postscript: I'd be even happier for MukhtaraN bibi if she had not married a man who was already married with children. I guess mine is not to reason why a woman who has been through what she has, why this woman's family would be party to this, but I hope nevertheless that it is not a failure.