How rape victim became a champion of women's education in Pakistan
Instead of committing suicide, as most rape victims are expected to do in Pakistan, Mukhtar Bibi took her attackers to court and used the compensation she won to set up a school and a women's shelter
The best-known advocate for girls' education in Pakistan is undoubtedly 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai, named co-winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize for her campaigning despite Taliban attempts on her life. But before the schoolgirl came to prominence, another heroine - Mukhtar Bibi - overcame an equally, if not more, harrowing ordeal to work for education and women's rights in Pakistan.
Bibi, 42, visited Hong Kong recently to raise funds for schools in her home village of Meerwala. Hosted by local charity Developments in Literacy (DIL) Hong Kong, the dinner raised HK$800,000, which will be used to train and pay teachers, upgrade classrooms and equipment at the two primary schools and high school that she set up in rural Meerwala, about 610 kilometres southwest of Islamabad.
While Malala survived being shot in the head, Bibi was gang-raped in 2002 in a so-called "honour" revenge. Her then 12-year-old brother was falsely accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman from the powerful Mastoi clan. To avoid an escalating dispute, the Mastois agreed that they would "forgive" the Mukhtar family if Bibi came to apologise on their behalf. But when she arrived, she was dragged into a stable and raped.
Instead of committing suicide as most rape victims were expected to do, Bibi defied conventions in rural Pakistan. She found the strength not only to take her attackers to court, she used the compensation awarded for her ordeal to set up a school in her village, and later went on to establish a women's shelter.
She struggled not to be overcome by the trauma and humiliation, and tried several times to kill herself; however, her mother, who stayed by her side, foiled each attempt.
Eventually, Bibi decided she had to seek justice. It was while giving evidence to police that she came to realise the importance of education: because she could not read or write, Bibi had to put her thumbprint on her statement instead of signing it. She felt all children have the right to learn to read and write. Moreover, education would give the poor and illiterate like herself tools to improve their lot.