Mukhtaran Bibi Gives Birth to Baby Boy
Nine years ago Mukhtaran Bibi made international headlines when her plight against honor crimes captivated the world.
Since her horrific struggle, Bibi has managed to turn her fate around and recently gave birth for the first time, a feat that she never thought would happen.
Bibi captured headlines in 2002 when a Pakistani tribal council ordered her to be raped as retribution for a claim that her adolescent brother had relations with a woman from another tribe in Pakistan's northeastern province of Punjab.
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She was raped by four men and forced to walk home naked in front of a crowd of 300 people.
Instead of committing suicide, as most rural women in Pakistan do following rape, Bibi fought against her persecutors and had six men convicted for the crimes perpetrated against her.
Bibi used the compensation money she got from the crimes to open two schools in her village and has become an advocate against honor crimes, which includes rapes and acid attacks against women in her country.
She also started the Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization and has been waging a war against honor crimes ever since her story captivated the world.
Bibi has faced house arrest, death threats, and has even been detained by Pakistani police, but has managed to survive under the most tumultuous of circumstances to bring new life into this world.
This past Sunday, 40-year-old Bibi gave birth to a baby boy who will be named by his paternal grandfather, per village custom.
Bibi who suffered greatly as a result of the gang rape, admitted that she never thought she would see the day when she would become a mother following her horrific public ordeal.
“I am very happy. I did not think I would live to see this day,” Bibi told CNN.
Although six men were sentenced to death in 2002 for committing and abetting the rape, five of them have since been acquitted.
