Pakistan woman, who alleged rape, sentenced to death by 'panchayat'

Lahore: A 19-year-old woman has been sentenced to death by village elders in Pakistan's Punjab province for allegedly having an illicit relationship with her cousin after she accused him of raping her at gunpoint.

The incident happened on Friday in Rajanpur, a rural district about 400 kilometres from provincial capital Lahore.

Shumaila escaped from the village after she came to know of the panchayat's decision and reported the matter to police.

She has denied having any illicit relationship with her cousin Khalil Ahmed and alleged that he raped her at gunpoint when she was sleeping at her house.

"I could not raise an alarm as Ahmed was holding a gun. But the panchayat refused to accept my statement and declared that I wilfully slept with him," she told the police.

She said the panchayat did not take action against Ahmed.

Fearing for her life, she approached the police yesterday.

"We have registered an FIR against the panchayat members and will take them into custody for declaring her kaari (liable to death either by stoning or else)," Hasnain said.

The SHO of Fazilpur Police Station, Qaisar Hasnain, said Shumaila's father said in a statement that he was forced to accept the panchayat's decision.

"Since the panchayat declared her liabale to be killed he had to accept the decision as it was the tradition of his village," he said.

The police has sent Shumaila to a government safe house for women in Rajanpur.

"Honour" killings and death sentences are usually sanctioned through the panchayat system in Pakistani villages, but they have no legal standing. PTI MZ ABH NSA ABH

CBSE results: Tamil girl beats visual disability, scores 96.6%

New Delhi, May 28 (PTI) The compulsion of using a magnifying glass for reading did not deter Dharshana M V form putting in her best efforts, as she scored 96.6 per cent and secured the third rank in CBSE class XII examination in the differently-abled category.

Aditya R Raj from Trivandrum, Lakshmi PV from Palakkad, (both in Kerala) and Dharshana M V from Krishnagiri of Tamil Nadu are top three scorers in CBSE class XII examinations in the category, results of which were announced today.

"I am very happy," Dharshana, from Nalanda International Public School in Krishnagiri, told PTI over the phone.

Dharshana suffers from microcornea which has rendered her right eye almost a 'nil vision' and the left one a partial vision.

Dharshana said despite the physical challenge she was motivated to put in her best and expressed gratitude to her parents and teachers for not putting pressure on her.

"My general principle is that I like to do my best in whatever I do. So when I started preparing for class XII examination, I decided I should do my best, whatever I could. Keeping that in my mind I started preparing.

"For reading, I used magnifying glass. I got good support from my school and my parents. They did not create any fear in my mind about the exam and motivated me and instilled confidence that I could do well," she said.

Dharshana, a commerce stream student who scored 483 marks out of 500, said she needs to use magnifying glass to read small texts.

She now wants to study commerce and become an entrepreneur, while also developing her music skills.

"I want to purse B. Com in Chennai and after that become an entrepreneur. I also want to develop my music talent," Dharshana, who is honing her skills in Carnatic music, told PTI.