Pakistani Teen Dies After Self-immolation As Charge Against Rapists Dropped

Sharon · #1 ● 09-17-2014, 02:39 PM

This happened back in 2002.

A Pakistani teenager died after setting fire to herself after a court dropped charges against four men accused of raping her, police said.

The incident occurred in the district of Muzaffargarh in Punjab province, where the gang rape of an illiterate woman in 2002 made headlines around the world.

The 18yo poured gasoline onto and set fire to herself in front of a police station in the city of Beet Meer Hazar. Pakistani television broadcasted the footage showing the self-immolation and desperate attempts of pedestrians to extinguish the flames.

The girl was taken to a nearby public hospital, where doctors tried to save her, but she died from her injuries the next day.

She was allegedly raped by four men, including a member of her own family in January 2002 and reported the incident to police. However, a local court in Muzaffargarh dismissed the case after a police report said the girl had not been raped, leading the teen to take desperate measures.

The main accused in the case, 'was a relative of the victim and they had a family quarrel', the police official told. 'The case was investigated twice and the researchers found that the victim had not been raped', he added. The Supreme Court of Pakistan demanded an explanation of the incident, ordering the local and district police to appear in person before the Court.

The court ordered the police to file a report explaining how the case was investigated and the reasons why the men accused were acquitted. A spokesman for the police chief of Punjab reported that an investigation team was sent to the region to review the case. "We sent an investigation team to the area and suspended police officials who were responsible for the case," said a spokesman for the police chief of Punjab.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan demanded that the government act to ensure that the criminals are brought to justice. "The sacrifice of this teen exposed the hardships that victims of rape in the country face when trying to bring their captors to justice," the group said. "It is common knowledge that only victims of rape in Pakistan courageously take the matter to the police or to the court," he added.

Physical and sexual violence against women is widespread in Pakistan, a patriarchal and conservative Muslim country.