Rape in Pakistan: Shazia, Mukhtaran or Afia?
Last month, the government of Punjab in Pakistan issued a cheque worth roughly USD 5800 to the parents of Shazia, a 12-year-old Christian girl who died early last year. Her original postmortem report made it obvious that Shazia had endured physical abuse. She had old scars and fresh bruises and even the telltale signs of blunt-force trauma; also, she suffered from malnutrition and a lack of hygiene. It was clear that this young child, who had lived and worked in a wealthy Lahore household, had not died of natural causes.