Rapist released from prison after agreeing to marry his victim, a deaf woman

a court of Pakistan released a rapist after he married his victim in a deal brokered by a council of elders in the country’s northwest, his lawyer said.

The decision outraged human rights activists, who said it legitimizes sexual violence against women, in a country where most rapes go unreported.

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Dawlat Khan25, was sentenced in May to life imprisonment by a Buner district court in Khyber Pakhtunkhova province, for raping a deaf woman.

He was released from prison on Monday after the Peshawar High Court accepted an out-of-court settlement with the victim’s family.

“The rapist and the victim are from the same family” understood in its broadest senseAmjad Ali, Khan’s lawyer, told AFP.

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“Both families have become closer after reaching an agreement with the help of the local jirga (traditional council),” added.

Khan was arrested after his unmarried victim had a baby months earlier and a paternity test revealed he was the biological father.

Rape is often difficult to judge in Pakistanwhere women are sometimes treated as second-class citizens.

According to the Asma Jahangir Legal Aid Cell, a legal aid group for vulnerable women, the conviction rate for rape is less than 3% of cases that go to trial.

Few cases are reported due to the social stigma that it entails.

“This is, in effect, the court’s approval of rape and the facilitation of rapists and the rape mentality.” claimed the lawyer and human rights defender Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir about the court’s decision.

“It goes against the basic principles of justice and the law, which does not recognize such arrangements,” he assured AFP.

The Pakistan Human Rights Commission said it was “appalled” by the decision.

In rural areas of Pakistanvillage councils known as jirgas are made up of elders who supplant the justice system despite the fact that their decisions have no legal value.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.