The ordeal of Fareed's family, who belong to the socially...

The ordeal of Fareed's family, who belong to the socially low Gujjar tribe, began when his 12-year-old son, Abdul Shakoor, was accused of having an affair with a 22-year-old woman of the higher-caste Mastoi tribe. The boy was brutally beaten and locked up by his alleged lover's family, who said that their honour had been offended and called for revenge.
"Our honour can only be restored after we disgrace one of the boy's sisters," the family reportedly told the tribal jury.
Shakoor denied the allegation of having "illicit" relations with Salma Bibi, but his plea was rejected.
The jury, dominated by Mastoi tribesmen, ordered Fareed to produce one of his daughters. He had no choice but to comply.
Mai, the eldest of his five daughters who gave Koran lessons to the village children, had agreed to go with her father. "I never thought that they will give such a ruling," she said.
"I am like your daughter and a sister. Don't do this to me," she shouted as the jury passed the order. But they would not listen. An elderly jurist joined two brothers and a cousin of Salma in carrying out the verdict.
"My life was destroyed after that humiliation. I thought of committing suicide," she said.
Yet the nationwide protest that has followed news of the rape and the Pakistani Government's promise to take action has given her some ray of hope that she might receive some justice.
"I want them to be publicly hanged," she said.
The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed concern over the increasing incidents of crime against women. "The gang-rape of a young girl as a form of punishment presents an alarming picture of the conditions in which so many women live and the atrocities they face," Afrasiab Khattak, the commission chairman, said.
He said it was clear that such a crime could not take place without the connivance of the local authorities, especially the police. The commission has demanded the immediate disbanding of all tribal jirgas.