Diary of a Rape Victim after her Death

Kudos for this thought-provoking piece Mr. Butt.

I read it about a year ago and as usual buried it deep in the forgotten cabinet of my memory. Something provoked me to find it again recently, and using the dates provided in it I tracked down Dawn`s news story regarding the murder of this girl. It`s quite unfortunate that most probably those blood-thirsty rascals went unpunished. But to me, even more unfortunate is the fact that all I and the rest of us can do is limited to lamenting this horrifying crime.

one_world...... (#25)....... well..... its people like you who should be hung in the centre of the city....... and left there for days to rot........

you obviously have no soul..... wtf happened to you that made you into such a sex meniac...?!? according to my perception, its usually a traumatic incident, that you were a victim of, that leads a man to such extremes..... if this is the case..... you should get proper help...... see a psychiatrist...... im sure ull love to feel normal again......

hey aessole if t was ur sister then waht will u do ? we all get horny ..there is no religion..we wanat a tight woman body always! if u want justice then leave the fake so called ` islamci republic of pakistan`

Well its reality which is brutal like always. To me rape is more than this for we all have confused its definition. A girl is born in our society and is conditioned like a daulay shah`s boys in a way that they cant say No to their fathers. Their fathers, knowing that their own daughters dont wanna marry somewhere, marry them off. She didnt say no because she was conditioned in such a inhuman way and the fathers know that she isnt happy. This is rape to me. The rapist is the father of her own daughter.

dear mubakr

you said ``marx warned of this direction of the revolution and that`s largely the reason that failed the russian example``

well Marx wanted the proletariat of the whole world to unite before bringing the revolution but Lenin thought otherwise..

in my opinion which is based upon interviewing russians in different parts of the former USSR (however it can still be wrong) the russian system did NOT fail. it was the ruling party which FAILED to implement the system effectively.

if pakistan was separated from india, you can not say that it was the failure of indian (democratic) system, not to mention the british as they were leaving at that time, or if bangladesh was separated from pakistan, it may not be termed as the failure of Islamic system and so on...

mubakr

``trust me even animals wont do that to their fellow beings. such lowliness is literally unique to human beings. ``

I don`t think your statement is entirely true. I have seen many a hen being chased by roosters with my own sinful eyes. I can vivedly remember one such incidence where a hen that was being chased by a rooster got crushed under a truck. My grandmother who was also witnessing that incident commented to her sister ``baRi ghairat wali kukri si, jaan day ditti per izzat naiN gunwaii``.

O MY GOD!is it islamic republic pakistan...........did we get the pakistan to bear or see that all shit.........can we consider ourself that will be in those people who will be survive for heaven..........no we cannt.It is just o GOD i am not getting word to say anything against those SOB.......sorry chowkies i know i used the slung language but i couldn`t stop me..I cannt bear this all........I wish i could kill them throw them into the hell............I don`t know these people don`t even confess that they have girl in their house sister in their house...If the same thing happens with their sister or mother,then what will be they able to do.........Its horrible to listen by anyone to read by eyes and what about those people who did it.........OMY GOD..........did they forget,ALLAH is watching them........Didn`t they realize what will happen with them.............I wish i could keep on their a**.........i wish and what about pakistani law................hunh they didn`t do anything because they didn`t get any evidence blindess of our law..........my foot pakistani law

all my dear readers:

such is this story that i cannot even say thank you for all the reactions that are coming my way. shutting the eyes will never change the realities on ground. life is the way it is the only option for people like us to keep trying to chage it. it will change. of all the social and legal darkness, i have never lost my hopes. losing hope will make me a loser and loser i shall never be.

talking to few of you over their reactions:

# 14 Saminasha: you always comeup with something worth reading. thank you so very much for this thought provoking social study. i`ve scanned it a lil bit and would do the thorough reading tomorrow. thanks anyway.

# 15 AR Mughal: trust me even animals wont do that to their fellow beings. such lowliness is literally unique to human beings.

# 16 Jahil: yes, inqalaab zinda bad but as marx once put and engles later supported it that when revolution is taking place, right at that moment, it itself creates a counter revolution by creating a certain class of people that eventually becomes a class. marx warned of this direction of the revolution and that`s largely the reason that failed the russian example.

# 17 Nadia: good reading you after a long/long time. i am glad that at least i put you thinking. never ever underestimate the power of thought. it drives the actions. keep up.

# 18 Kashmirikuri: i agree with you in action but i would rather appreciate someone more that dares to stand on her feet and challenge the taboos. trust me asma and hina did more of a disservice to the cause of human rights than serving it. they politicized a very social issue and almost all governments have reacted to that negatively. i can talk more but would refrain from mud slinging.

once again you people out there...we need to keep walking on!

all my dear readers:

such is this story that i cannot even say thank you for all the reactions that are coming my way. shutting the eyes will never change the realities on ground. life is the way it is the only option for people like us to keep trying to chage it. it will change. of all the social and legal darkness, i have never lost my hopes. losing hope will make me a loser and loser i shall never be.

talking to few of you over their reactions:

# 14 Saminasha: you always comeup with something worth reading. thank you so very much for this thought provoking social study. i`ve scanned it a lil bit and would do the thorough reading tomorrow. thanks anyway.

# 15 AR Mughal: trust me even animals wont do that to their fellow beings. such lowliness is literally unique to human beings.

# 16 Jahil: yes, inqalaab zinda bad but as marx once put and engles later supported it that when revolution is taking place, right at that moment, it itself creates a counter revolution by creating a certain class of people that eventually becomes a class. marx warned of this direction of the revolution and that`s largely the reason that failed the russian example.

# 17 Nadia: good reading you after a long/long time. i am glad that at least i put you thinking. never ever underestimate the power of thought. it drives the actions. keep up.

# 18 Kashmirikuri: i agree with you in action but i would rather appreciate someone more that dares to stand on her feet and challenge the taboos. trust me asma and hina did more of a disservice to the cause of human rights than serving it. they politicized a very social issue and almost all governments have reacted to that negatively. i can talk more but would refrain from mud slinging.

once again you people out there...we need to keep walking on!

Stories like this make me never want to go back to Pakistan as I do not feel safe!
I know the religous lot will say that all this happens in the west which i admit it does but i can tell u that walking down a street in london and walking down a street in rawalpindi r 2 totally differnt things!

In london no on is gna try and grope uor whislte or tease where as in pakistan the land of the Pak and saaf all that and more will happen!

In Pakistan they make the rape vixtim feeling as if they did something wrong and 99% of the time her only fault is that she is a women!

I think that Asma and Hina are doing a great deal 4 the ppl of Pakistan more then what any politican has the guts too do!

Its heart-breaking, bring tears to eyes. Sometimes humans fall lower than animals. May Allah bless the poor child and give her the bets place in Paradise and give her family the strength and courage to overcome this event. And let us pray that our country, our people, can some day bring justice to our land and actually punich such hideous crimes so that people may atleast fear the penalty of committing such crimes.

It is very sad indeed. But it is a reality. We must fight to end it.

I am speechless.. I simply can’t utter a word as that would do no good to the deceased sole and neither would it effect the asshole who bailed the culprits.. I’m sure if the girl would have survived, police would have changed the medical report and tampered other evidence.. and the asshole presiding office would have taken bribe and acquitted the culprits.

What would have happened to the girl.. everyone knows for sure..

Our police, judiciary, beurocracy, army, politics, law and system needs a major revamping..

Inqalab zindabad !

Mubakr:

Well an interaction long after from ilogs…
You write very well and have poured factual face of our society...
Apart from constituting legal work on these issues we should also rework our attitudes. I have observed that men have a typical mindset that I should have to only give honor and that owing respect to a woman who has biological relationship of sister with him.
Thus any other woman with whom he has communications and interactions or even they are in the boundary of same physical peripheries is not to be respected.
This attitude can be seen in markets, transports, college/universities. With this deep notion in oneself, the man rags of womenfolk:
“Wo meri maa, behan ya baiti nahi”/ “Mei.n sirf apni maa, behan, baiti ki izzat karta hoo.”
In order to avoid such vulgarity the fundamentalist group of Islamic country try to educate just only the women to cover themselves and avoid insulting behaviors. I think only avoiding doesn’t work, we should be strong enough not to let anyone hamper our corridors.
When we look at families then there is a general trend that boys are one to misuse the freedom, liberty. But a girl is threatened not to practice small emancipations. She is repeatedly revised her organic nature and its oddity in sphere of men world. She has to think in a way where she could adjust herself in the predefined makeup of our cultures.
She is more precise towards her appearance than boys. So she loses confidence in early stages of her life. However grooming in her definition is called as to suppress her ideas, and feeling to be come in self described modesty. However boys how much vivacious they are thought to carry this animation forever.
When we would be able to scratch the symbolisms of being a self-effacing creature and would think people around us owing due respects then we would be able to comeout of such traumatic incidents.

Your article made me think. Best regards for the New year.

Rape as Punishment

By Mona Eltahawy
Sunday, July 28, 2002; Page B07

A Pakistan tribal council`s horrific ``punishment`` by gang rape of a young woman last month was just the tip of a very ugly iceberg called honor.

In the name of that most elusive of concepts, women are shot, beheaded, burned, stoned and beaten. And, in the case of Saleema, raped.


Four men raped Saleema (not her real name) for more than an hour to ruin her honor and avenge that of another woman. (Saleema`s 12-year-old brother had been in the company of a woman from a more powerful tribal family, apparently not by his own choice, and been summarily accused of having an affair with her). Hence the tribal council`s ``verdict`` on his sister.

The Pakistan Human Rights Commission estimates that at least eight women, five of them minors, are reported raped every day; more than two-thirds of them are gang-raped.

In Pakistan rape is often used for revenge or punishment against an enemy. A woman is ``defiled`` to taint her family. What irony that a woman as powerless as Saleema carries the whole family`s honor on her shoulders -- a heavy burden indeed.

It is one that is carried by women in countless Muslim countries, yet there is not a single word in the Koran that calls for death in the name of honor. Virginity before marriage and chastity afterward are the bulwarks of honor in societies where such killings prevail.

The mere suspicion that she has jeopardized that honor -- talking to a neighbor, being seen with a strange man, or even asking for a divorce -- can earn a woman a death sentence.

Some conservative Muslim clerics shamefully support honor killings. They accuse activists who fight to eradicate such crimes, often at risk of their own lives, of seeking to impose Western values upon their traditional societies.

What is so Western about wanting to end a barbaric cultural practice that leaves a woman damned if she does and damned if she doesn`t?

In Yemen a few years ago, a man shot his daughter dead on her wedding night after her husband claimed she was not a virgin. At the mother`s insistence, a doctor examined the young woman`s body and found her to have been a virgin. Her husband was impotent and lied to protect his honor because he knew he would not be able to display a bloodied rag as proof of his bride`s virginity.

According to UNICEF and Amnesty International statistics, more than 1,000 women were victims of honor killings in Pakistan in 1999. There were up to 400 honor killings in Yemen in 1997. The United Nations says such killings have also occurred in Britain, Norway, Italy, Brazil, Peru and Venezuela. At least one case has been reported in the United States.

One particularly gruesome killing had us dumbfounded as word of what happened came into the Cairo newsroom where I was working at the time. A young woman named Nora Ahmed had eloped. Her father had not approved of her choice of husband. When she returned to Cairo to try to change her father`s mind he asked to speak with her privately. He then cut off her head and paraded it down a Cairo street, shouting ``Now my family has regained its honor.``

In 1997 some 52 honor killings were reported in Egypt. The actual figures in all of the countries I`ve cited are probably much higher because most honor killings go unreported.

What to do if clerics remain perversely silent about an ancient practice that is rooted in culture rather than religion? What to do when men who kill female relatives in the name of honor too often escape punishment or receive atrociously short sentences?

We must acknowledge the brave few who speak out. A village imam courageously condemned Saleema`s rape in a Friday sermon, drawing journalists` attention.

A particularly useful weapon is embarrassment. In Saleema`s case, local and international outcries led Pakistani authorities to arrest and charge all four suspected rapists. Several other people -- including a police officer -- are also in custody for allegedly failing to prevent the attack or hiding the suspects.

Two of the most courageous activists fighting honor killings are sisters Asma Jehangir and Hina Jilani. They are both lawyers and human rights activists who tirelessly champion women`s rights despite death threats and a largely unsympathetic government.

Let`s embarrass that government into prosecuting more of those who kill in the name of honor. Let`s shame it into doing the honorable thing.

Mona Eltahawy was a reporter in the Middle East before she moved to the United States.

Off all the reactions, let me speak to three of them...

# 6 Scout:

never heard or read of the novel you mentioned. similarities in the dread are almost the same all around the world of these incidents.

# 9 NIKI7777:

this is not ``morbid fascination`` but real life. ``the heart that feels the pain is the heart that bleeds.`` Nothing more for me to say.

# 12 FnAhmad:

what we could learn here is:

let`s empower and not rather protect the women in our society. and also to get out of the impression that God IS the actor...He is NOT...He could be an arbitrator...we ARE the actors.

AND yes. words failed me too. i tried to record my protest in many governmental and social quarters but came no solace. people, we are on our own in this world! justice javed iqbal in his autobiography writes that he once asked a chinese school going girl that if she prays. ``we dont pray. praying is like begging for alms/charigy and we dont beg,`` she said.

let`s not beg anymore and do something worthwhile when we are alive!

Love, Peace of Else...

I really wept when I read this story. I really want to die with shame. She was my sister and her murders and rapist are at large and I am living on this planet and feel happy. It is a moment to think and think in the real sense. Who will be the next another of my sisters or daughters or yours? Are we just waiting for the criminals to do this atrocious act again? Don’t blame just the government we all are responsible. Our silence make us part of this horrible act. It our duty to revenge our sisters honor. In a manner that no criminal mind ever dare to think do this to us again. Don’t take law in your hand but play your due role. I really feel sorry for the aggrieved family. She was my sister just tell me what I can do for her? She was our sister tell us what can we do for her? We are all waiting………..! fnahmad@gmail.com