Documentation movie "Shame"

"Shame" is about Mukhtaran Mai and her shocking story that ends with
much promise. In 2002, the 30-year-old woman from Meerwala, a remote
Pakistani village, was sentenced by the tribal council to be raped by a
group of men in retaliation for an alleged crime that her brother had
committed. With no police presence in the village and with the feudal
precedent of self-victimization or suicide, she musters the courage to
travel to town to file a police case, in spite of death threats.

Her case attracts governmental and then international press and human
rights attention, and results in her being praised with awards for
bravery and travel abroad to speak, as well as being given a handsome
amount of money with which she builds the village's first school. I
recommend this film not just for its sensitive treatment of the matter
and the inspiring story of Mukhtaran Mai, but also because of the
beautiful cinematography that paints, at times, a welcome and almost
surrealistically dreamy veneer on a chilling episode.

In modern Pakistan, Ghulam Fareed lives a poor lifestyle in Meerwala
along with his daughter, Mukhtaran Mai and son, Shaqoor. Meerwala is a
village without any roads, schools, a Police Station, or even
electricity. Girls' marriages are arranged when they are barely 12
years old. During March, 2002, Shaqoor allegedly molests a girl from
the Mashtoi family, who live next door. The local Panchayat meets and
decides that Mukhtaran must also be molested by males of the Mashtoi
family, accordingly she is raped by about 14 men. Shunned, hurt,
confused, devastated, she makes her way to the Police Station to file a
report against this rape. This is where she will find out that it is
not easy to find justice in a country that has been ruled by men and
the military for eons, where the woman is still considered a possession
- when she does well, she lives up to the family's reputation, but when
she does bad, she brings shame to the entire clan. Her persistence pays
off, and with the intervention of two female politicians, she has the
14 arrested. Amidst threats made against her by the Mashtoi clan, she
is provided 24 hours protection by the national guard. Shortly
thereafter the Courts reached it's decision: 8 of the men are set free,
while 6 are sentenced to be hanged and fined 40,000 Pakistani Rupees.
The media's attention is focused on Meerwala, and Pervez Musharaff's
government makes the most of it to improve conditions there. Mukhtaran
is awarded 5 Lakh Rupees, which she uses to build a girls' school; a
road & a Police station manned by 4 constables is built, and
electricity is provided. Then a school is built for males named as
Ghulam Fareed Boys' School. Ironically, while the government provides
funding for the boys' school, Mukhtaran herself pays for the salaries
and maintenance of the girls' school. When the accused appeal to the
High Court, 5 of the 6 are freed, resulting in an uproar not only in
Pakistan but also in the United States. Mukhtaran meets with Prime
Minister Shaukat Aziz and has the 5 re-arrested. She is then invited to
Spain. Thereafter, she is invited to visit the U.S., a visa is provided
for her, but before she could travel, she is arrested by the Police
under orders from Pervez Musharraff himself, so as not to publicly
humiliate his country. Mukhtaran disappears for several days, only to
emerge later, admitting that she has been coerced to not visit the
U.S.. Subsequently, she does visit the U.S. where is felicitated by
Glamour Magazine, while the Times New York cites her as one of 100 the
most influential people in the world. When she returns home to
Meerwala, she is shocked to learn that a nine year old girl has been
raped, and files a Police Complaint on her behalf. During the course of
the four years of her trials, Mukhtaran has not only built and run a
school for girls, albeit with some donations collected by U.S.-based
Journalist Nicholas Kristof; a woman's crisis center, but also a sense
of security and well-being amongst the general population, especially
women, in Meerwala. Add to that, a male student from the embittered
Mashtoi family had also enrolled in the boys' school. She is herself
enrolled in the girls' school, appropriately named after her, and hopes
that by enlightening young minds she can make way for a better
Pakistan. As of the end of 2006, the Pakistani Supreme is yet to decide
the fate of the 6 accused in this incident.

Written by
rAjOo

http://german.imdb.de/title/tt0844752/plotsummary