Mukhtar Mai was an anonymous Pakistani villager till she was gang-raped on the orders of a tribal council in February 2002 following allegations that her 12-year-old brother Shakoor was seen in company of a woman from the influential Mastoi tribe.
Many expected the 33-year-old would commit suicide as is all too common after rape in Pakistan, but Mai refused and started a legal battle against her alleged rapists. Soon her struggle for rights became a struggle for other deprived women too.
"As my work is growing the fear is also building up. As my struggle for rights has changed into a struggle for the rights of every deprived woman, so people are threatening me and creating hurdles in my work," Mukhtar Mai said in an interview.
With the money she received as compensation from the courts after a three-year legal battle, she built her village's first girls school an institution she had never seen before and an opportunity which the little girls of her village will never be able to thank her enough for.
"My permanent engagement is my school and it keeps me very busy. I am happy that by the grace of god almighty my school, which was up to the primary level, has now been upgraded to high school level. We have got a new school bus for students to provide them a free pick and drop," she said.