Pakistan's Supreme Court court says it is taking over a notorious gang-rape case that has stirred legal and social controversy.
Thirty-three-year old Mukhtaran Mai was raped on the orders of a village council nearly three years ago as a punishment for an alleged affair between her younger brother and a girl from a powerful clan. An anti-terrorism court sentenced the six accused men to death. But later, a high court in Multan city overturned the decision for lack of evidence. Last week, the Federal Shariat Court, Pakistan's highest Islamic tribunal, in turn threw out that judgment, saying the Multan court had no jurisdiction.
On Monday, the Supreme Court in Islamabad suspended the rulings of both the high court and the Islamic court and said it would hear the case itself.