Mukhtaran Mai gang rape: 13 released after acquittal

Islamabad:  Thirteen men who were acquitted by the Supreme Court in the Mukhtaran Mai gang rape case have been released from the Multan central jail, a media report said.

The men were released on Tuesday.

Dawn said that the men raised slogans against Mukhtaran Mai after they were released.

Mukhtaran Mai became a symbol of the country's oppressed women after her gang rape on the orders of a village council in 2002.

An Anti-Terrorism Court, while acquitting eight of the 14 accused in the case, had awarded death sentence to the remaining six -- of whom five were acquitted by the Lahore High Court which also reduced the death sentence of the sixth accused, Abdul Khalique, to life imprisonment.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court confirmed the Lahore court order.

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