MULTAN, July 13: Mukhtaran Mai, whose metamorphosis from a helpless rape victim to a rights activist attracted worldwide attention, faces another challenge: a smear campaign launched by a section of the press.

Undaunted by government restrictions that at one time put her name on the Exit Control List, Mai is no stranger to a hostile press. A local Urdu daily, perhaps upset with the decision of the Multan bench of the Lahore High Court in her favour, initiated the campaign by running front-page stories. Mai took the newspaper to court for libel. The case is still pending.

Piqued by her rising stature, feudal lords recently sought to discredit her by involving her brother in a vani jirga case.

A 10-year-old girl from Mai’s area was allegedly raped by three persons a couple of weeks ago. The accused were said to be the victim’s cousins. Following the dreadful practice of vani, family elders belonging to the Kharos caste decided that the rapists would give one of their girls in marriage to the victim’s father, Rasool Bakhsh.

The jirga decision was implemented and a teenage sister of the alleged rapists was married to Bakhsh, whose consternation knew no bounds subsequently when the vani girl went back to her parents’ place a couple of days after her forced marriage.

Feeling betrayed, the rape victim’s father sought to lodge a case with the Jatoi police against his daughter’s rapists. When the police refused to register the case, he approached Mai for help. The case was registered at her intervention.

As a result, local feudal lords started to regard Mai as a threat to their power and influence. They began to spread a canard that Mai’s brother, Hazoor Shah, was one of the witnesses to the nikah of the vani girl. “A witness to nikah was Hazoor Bakhsh, son of Ghulam Farid. One of my brothers has the same name. Political bigwigs belonging to the PPP spread the rumour that a brother of Mukhtar Mai, who claims to be fighting against panchayats, takes part in such activities,” she explains.

Mai says the nikahnama clearly mentions that the witness Hazoor Bakhsh belongs to the Kharos caste, adding that her family’s caste is Gujjar. She says police investigations cleared her brother.

“Obviously, I was their target. They want me not to stand for the rights of women. I made it clear to them that I would myself lodge a case against my brother if he took part in panchayats,” she says.