Village court orders Pakistani rape victim to be killed or sold off over adultery charges

A 19-year-old girl from a village in Pakistan's Punjab province, who alleged that her cousin raped her at gunpoint, sought police help after the village court ruled she be killed or sold off. She was reportedly accused of adultery.

Police in Rajanpur district on Saturday (27 May) arrested four men who were involved in issuing the strange verdict. The arrested men included the father of the alleged rapist.

The girl reportedly told the police that she managed to escape the village following the panchayat (village court) ruling. She added that the village heads refused to believe her statement that her cousin, Khaleel Ahmed, sneaked into her room on Friday night and raped her at gunpoint.

She also told police that she could not raise an alarm because Ahmed was armed, but the next morning she narrated her ordeal to her family, who then approached the village court.

However, Ahmed's father, Muhammad Shafee, compelled the panchayat to hold her guilty of adultery.

Police told Pakistan's The Express Tribune that a case has been registered against all the four panchayat members and the case was being investigated.

Qaisar Hasnain, station house officer of Fazilpur Police Station in the district, said that the victim's father was forced to accept the panchayat's decision, but the girl fearing for her life, escaped the village to seek police help.

The victim has reportedly been sent to a government safe house for women in Rajanpur, The Times of India reported.