Multan, July 13: Police arrested a fourth suspect in the gang rape last month of an 18-year-old girl as a tribal punishment in a remote Pakistani village, an official said today. The arrest completes a two-week hunt for the alleged rapists, said police Col Farman Ali. Several other people - including a police officer - are also in custody for allegedly failing to prevent the attack or hiding the suspects. The rape occurred June 22 after a tribal council in Meerwala village in Punjab province ordered the girl's family be punished after her 11-year-old brother was seen walking unchaperoned with a girl belonging to a different tribe.
The victim's family was from the Gujar tribe, considered lower-class than the Mastoi tribe to which the girl who walked with the boy belonged. The Council was Mastoi, as were the men who carried out the rape.
The rape outraged rights groups and strengthened calls for greater central government control in Pakistan's fiercely independent tribal regions, where federal laws are often ignored in favor of clan justice.
News of the rape took weeks to emerge. When it did, police said the council's verdict was illegal and launched an investigation.


President Pervez Musharraf's government gave the victim's family a cheque for dlrs 8,000 as compensation and said a new school would be built in her name. The family is under police protection in Meerwala after complaining of harassment.
Three of the alleged rapists were brothers, Ali said.
He said the suspects would be brought before a court in nearby Deraghazi Khan on July 18 to be formally charged.

Bureau Report