In 2002, a low-caste Pakistani village woman was sentenced by the village panchayat to be gang-raped in retribution for a crime allegedly committed by her brother. The sentence was carried out by four high-caste men, and she was sent home walking naked through her village. But she fought back:
…instead of killing herself, Ms. Mukhtaran testified against her attackers and propounded the shocking idea that the shame lies in raping, rather than in being raped. The rapists are now on death row, and President Pervez Musharraf presented Ms. Mukhtaran with the equivalent of $8,300 and ordered round-the-clock police protection for her.These sorts of tribal customs are revolting in all cultures. I only wish she’d gotten her hands on a Remington a la Phoolan Devi, the Bandit Queen.




