TORONTO, Sept 12: Quiet and unsmiling behind a pink headscarf and a brown wool shawl, Pakistani seamstress Mukhtaran Mai is an unlikely icon for women’s rights. But Mai is a gang-rape victim who broke with tradition to tell the world her story and insist that Pakistan prosecute the men from her village who raped her as punishment for a crime they said her brother committed.

Her tale has become a gripping, but still-unpolished documentary that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, explaining how Mukhtaran Mai spoke out about the rape, rather than taking the traditional route of committing suicide to save her family’s honour.

“My strength came from God,” she said at the festival, speaking on a glitzy hotel patio amid the buzz of rival interviews and the clink of water glasses.

Speaking through a translator, Mai admitted that her own life had changed since the rape, just as donations from her supporters and cash and reparations from Pakistan have transformed her village into one that now boasts a paved road, electricity, two schools and a crisis centre for women.

“Before, I did not even know what was around the corner from my house, and now I am here. I am dealing with bigger issues,” she said. “The entire world is supporting me.”

Her film, ‘Shame’, is basically a compilation of interviews and TV footage, explaining what happened to Mai, the initial passive response from her father and her brother, and then the arrest of the suspects, their conviction for rape, and their release on appeal.

The men are now back in jail pending a final appeal, with no date yet available on when the outcome of that might be. Mai, who enrolled herself into her own school to try to get the education she never received as a child, has travelled to several countries to tell her story.

Director Mohammed Naqvi said he hoped the movie would be ready for release next year.

—Reuters