05 March 2005	Saturday	23 Muharram 1426

LAHORE, March 4: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed on Friday its disappointment over the acquittal of five out of the six men convicted of gang rape of Mukhtaran Mai on orders of a jirga in Meerwala.

In a statement issued here, the HRCP said the acquittal highlighted some of the factors behind the continuously soaring rate of crime against women. It said it was disappointed that people involved in a most heinous crime had been able to escape penalty, and that the victim had instead been forced to pay the price for state's failure to ensure justice.

The HRCP said the LHC court observations, in its short order, about flaws in the police inquiry and insufficient evidence against the accused, betrayed a lack of genuine willingness on the part of authorities to pursue cases of crime against women, especially the rural poor among them.

It said the wide-scale publicity the case received, and the involvement of top officials of state in it would suggest there was all the more reason to ensure the investigation was carried out with care and reflected a desire to ensure the guilty received due punishment, rather than merely to appease international opinion.

The HRCP said the lack of sensitivity to women's rights displayed in this case was not different to the handling of issues concerning crime against women in the official bill on honour killings.