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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Another Pak rape victim encounters difficulties |
| 2005-06-30 |
| This was the case where some Army officers raped a lady doctor, then in an attempt to cover it up, the government put the victim into a mental institution, and protected her rapists. Meanwhile a tribal jirga ordered she be killed. Luckily she got assylum in the UK. A lady doctor whose rape in the southern province of Balochistan last year sparked tribal clashes says she is still terrified. âI was threatened so many times in Pakistan that I still feel scared,â Dr Shazia Khalid told the BBC. She is currently living in London and has spoken about the incident for the first time since leaving Pakistan. Dr Shaziaâs rape led to a violent confrontation between Baloch tribesmen and security forces. âI cannot tell you how many times I was threatened. My life was made impossible. I am still terrified,â she said in the interview with the BBC Urdu service. She said she had never been satisfied with the inquiry conducted by the government into the incident. âMy whole career was destroyed, as was my husbandâs. That was why we left our country. âInstead of getting justice, I was hounded out of Pakistan,â she said. âI never wanted to leave Pakistan but I had no choice.â The government has denied that Dr Shazia suffered any harassment from any quarter. In an earlier interview with the BBC, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said: âShe has been sent out of the country by some NGOs and the government has nothing to do with it.â Dr Shazia has been invited to address a function organized by the Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Women (AANA) in the United States on July 2. The function is a substitute for the organizationâs earlier plans of inviting gang-rape victim Mukhtaran Mai whose case is now in the Supreme Court in Islamabad. Online adds: Reacting to Dr Shaziaâs latest interview, the information minister said that allegations about threats were baseless. He said that Dr Shazia herself wanted to go abroad. The minister called for setting up a commission by international media to review the cases of Dr Shazia and Mukhtaran Mai. He said he would like to know which vested interests had kept Dr Shazia quiet for so long. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #1 Well, given that the PakiWaki Govt has sooo much credibility, and her description makes perfect sense both the "authorities" (Hush it up and commit her to an institution) and under Shari'a (Kill the victim), I'm definitely inclined to believe her version. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-06-30 05:22 |