Typically if a judge of a supreme court passes a judgment, the Supreme Court (India) can review its judgment with a bench of higher number of judges. For example if a single judge passed a judgment, it can be reviewed by a three judge bench, which again can be reviewed by a five judge bench, which again can be reviewed by a thirteen judge bench which is the top level bench.

In rare cases a 13 judge bench can be reviewed again by another 13 judge bench. The whole process was put in as a fail safe to avoid any injustice which might happen due to some information not seeing light which is a very high probability in south Asian nations.

The possibility of review exists but it is granted rarely only if there seems to be a considerable question of law with changes which have happened. These judgments always tend to be landmark and relate to a major change in the country.

Mai’s case is definitely a potential one, if there is ENOUGH BACKLASH, it might make it.

Pakistan seems to be similar on the judicial system.

Please take the time to sign our petition in support for Mukhtaran Mai to bring her abusers back to justice. You can access the petition here:

http://signon.org/sign/bring-justice-to-mukhtaran

You can also join our Facebook group to get regular updates about Mai’s case and the petition:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_144752645594761&ap=1

With your help we can turn our collective frustration into constructive action!

Many thanks: Sanaz

Same, I think we all had a sinking feeling about how this story was going to pan out :/

Ali Dayan Hasan of the US-based Human Rights Watch said the verdict sent a “very bad signal” across Pakistani society. “It suggests women can be abused and even raped with impunity and those perpetrating such crimes can walk,” he told the BBC.

Not only that, but often women are ones who face shame for the crime, rather than the criminal; women who are raped are often considered “dirty” in this culture. In Afghanistan, young women who are raped before marriage are usually considered unfit for marriage because they are no longer virgins. So not only is there no retribution, society places the burden of the sin on them.

The scariest part, to me, is the “stickiness” of these attitudes. Even if they get out of the country, they bring these attitudes and act on them in the UK. For too many, it seems there is no space between “coconut” and these horrible attitudes

True…not only for sexual assault, but also domestic violence.