MULTAN, Pakistan - A Pakistani woman who captured international attention for her bravery after suffering a gang rape three years ago said on Saturday she wouldn't allow anyone to use her name to tarnish the image of her country.| Don't you worry Mai, there's no need to use your name to tarnish the image of Pakiwakiland. |
"Pakistan is my country, and how can I allow anyone to bring (a) bad name to Pakistan," Mai, 36, told The Associated Press from Meerwala, a village in eastern Punjab province where she was raped in June 2002 to punish her family for her brother's alleged affair with a woman from another family.
On Saturday Mai said she had no plans to settle abroad. "I will live and die here, and I assure the president that I would never do anything against Pakistan," she said.
| "There. I said it. Please don't kill me!" |
She has expressed worries about the safety of her family since June 10, when a court in the eastern city of Lahore ordered the release of a dozen men detained in connection with her rape. Mai is from the Gujar clan while her alleged attackers were from a clan considered socially higher, called Mastoi.
| At what point does a clan rise high enough to be considered 'upper Paleolithic'? |