Dangers of Getting an Education...

....in the Land of the Pure.

The News International on Saturday reported the case of one Mumtaz Mai and her daughter, Ghazala Shaheen Bathi, who were abducted, held in captivity and gang-raped for 12 days because daughter Ghazala dared to become educated.

[.....]

....The mother-daughter duo earned the wrath of the Mirali tribesmen when it became known that Ghazala had passed her Master's in Education from Bahauddin Zahariya University on Aug 25.

The girl's father Mohammed Hussain, a retired army man belonging to village Chak Sher Khan near Kabirwala in Multan, was also beaten up.

....Influential people are said to be involved in this case too. The newspaper report repeatedly hinted at the involvement of "a minister of state", but did not name him.

When informed by the villagers, the local police acted after 12 days, only to help the accused.

While three men managed to escape, the local villagers prevented the car carrying the two women from driving away.

It is said that among the three men overpowered the villagers included two bodyguards of the minister.

Kabirwala's police chief Daud Hussain has been quoted as denying the incident. The police reportedly clarified that the two women had run away from their home "on their own".

However, the newspaper said authorities in the local hospital confirmed that the two women had been raped.[TOI]