A Pakistani court sentenced six men to death for the...

A Pakistani court sentenced six men to death for the gang rape of a woman on the orders of a traditional village jury. Defence lawyer Mohammad Yaqub told Reuters that eight other men were acquitted in the trial before a special anti-terrorism court in the Punjab provincial town of Dera Ghazi Khan, whose shocking findings highlighted the abuse of women in rural areas. Mukhtar Mai, the 30-year old victim, was not present when the court announced the decision amid heavy security. Yaqub said four men were sentenced to death for committing the rape and two others for serving on the village jury that authorised the crime. "The four rapists and two jurors have been given the death penalty and a fine of 40,000 rupees ($675) each. The remaining eight have been acquitted. Yaqub named the four sentenced to death for the rape as brothers Allah Ditta and Abdul Khaliq, Fayyaz Hussain and Ghulam Farid. The two jurors were Faiz Bakhsh and Ramzan Bichar. Mai said she was raped by four men after approaching the traditional jury, or panchayat, in Meerawali to settle a dispute with the rival Mastoi clan. She had gone to the jury after her 12-year-old brother Abdul Shakoor was kidnapped and sodomised by members of Mastoi family as a punishment for having an illicit affair with one of their relatives.