INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Khadija Siddiqui stabbed 23 times fights to see her attacker jailedLAHORE: A Pakistani law student has emerged
in the teeming eastern city of Lahore in May 2016.Her sister was also injured as she tried to defend her, and the brazen attack only ended
when her driver managed to pull the assailant off and rush Siddiqui to hospital, where she was admitted to intensive care with her neck
slashed, her arms wounded, and a deep injury to her back.Siddiqui named her attacker as Shah Hussain, a classmate whom she had rejected
He was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison in July 2017.But Hussain, the son of a prominent Lahori lawyer, appealed the
decision -- and in a shock judgement released on June 4, the Lahore High Court acquitted him on all charges
The decision was greeted with an uproar in Pakistan, where hundreds of women are murdered and attacked by men each year, with many
struggling to get justice in a sluggish court system that advocates say is often slanted against them
"I was shocked," Siddiqui, who spent three weeks in hospital after the attack and whose back still pains her, told AFP
campaigners, but when Hussain walked free it unleashed a wave of anger
"I am heart broken, speechless, shattered after hearing what our judiciary system did to you @khadeeeej751 - But do not give up , keep
fighting, and we shall overcome this together," tweeted actress Urwa Hocane
justice against this barbarian! #WeAreWithKhadija"
The hashtag was trending in Pakistan within hours of the acquittal
The judgement questioned why she did not name Hussain as her attacker immediately, despite testimony saying she had fallen unconscious; and
told AFP that his child is innocent
"My son is a brilliant student," he said
a leading lawyer and human rights activist.The young law student is lucky in that she received high-profile support and it came to the
Commission.It documented thousands of reported violent incidents including rapes, assaults, sexual harassment, acid attacks, murders, and
even four examples of "stove burning" -- understood to be when a woman is taken into a kitchen, covered in kerosene and set alight; then the
perpetrators claim she was burned by the stove.The real figures, the commission said, are likely to be much higher.Many cases of violence
against women are not reported to authorities
In rural areas such cases often bypass the formal justice system and are dealt with by village "jirgas" or councils, often in a manner that
is punitive for women.But even for those cases which do enter the court system, the conviction rate is "below one percent", says Rabeea
pressured to drop their cases, and can face blackmail and harassment
But she is determined to see hers through, and says the attention it has received has prompted many women to contact her to say they, too,
get justice," she told AFP, sounding calm and confident."It has proved that if women fight, they can turn things around, so they should
never give up they should not tolerate injustice, violence and blackmail."
