CAT/C/57/D/529/2012
Factual background
2.1
The complainant alleged that if deported to Pakistan, she would be at risk of torture
or execution by her ex-husband, B.A., his family or the national authorities because she had
been accused of committing adultery.
2.2
The complainant maintained that she had been abused and harassed by her exhusband’s family, in particular by a relative, B., following a land ownership conflict that
started in the 1990s and still continues.
2.3
The complainant and her then husband had bought land from B. but the latter
refused to hand the land over after receiving the money. The complainant and her husband
filed a law suit and a court decided in their favour on 27 July 1992. After the court decision,
B. and his sons beat B.A. with sticks. On an unspecified date, B. set fire to the local
document registry office, destroying the files that contained the court decree and the
relevant land documents. B. and his sons “teased, assaulted, harassed and physically
abused” the complainant. Her husband was working in Saudi Arabia and she was raising
their children alone. In his absence, the complainant filed reports with the police, which
took no action. On 17 May 1997, the complainant and her servant were set upon by a group
of people, including B. One of them hit the servant on the head with a brick. The
complainant complained to the police. On the evening of 31 March 1999, the complainant
was at home with her children when a group of men and women broke into the house, beat
the complainant and her 15 year old daughter, F., with sticks and threw bricks and stones
inside the house. Neighbours rescued the complainant and her children; the complainant
and her daughter were injured. On 14 December 1999, several of B.’s sons assaulted the
complainant with iron rods. Some village residents intervened and called the police and the
complainant was taken to hospital. A complaint was filed with the police. The
complainant’s husband returned to Pakistan in September 2001 and accompanied her to the
police station to file a complaint regarding the attacks against her by B. and his sons, but
the police refused. On the way home, they were approached by B. and his sons, who
demanded to marry their daughters and be given the land as dowry. B.A. refused; B. and
two of his sons shot B.A. He was taken to hospital and complained to the police. The police
filed a first information report.
2.4
The complainant’s husband again left to work in Saudi Arabia. She tried to obtain
clarification of the status of the land that was the subject of the original dispute with B. She
was informed that securing ownership of the land would require that she return to court and
obtain another judgment in her favour. She filed a new law suit on 25 May 2004, which was
resolved in her favour on 7 September 2005. Sometime in 2006, a group of people broke
into the complainant’s home, intending to force the nikah (Islamic marriage contract) on
her daughters. When they realized that the daughters were not present, they dragged her by
her hair and tore her clothes. She was taken to the police and false accusations of adultery
and prostitution were filed against her. The complainant submitted that while in police
custody, she was harassed, molested and tortured; B. and his sons were present while she
was in police custody; they repeatedly demanded to marry her daughters and threatened to
kidnap her daughters and kill her, her husband and their sons, in order to gain ownership of
the land. She spent two nights in police custody and was released when village elders
intervened and promised B. that his sons could marry the complainant’s daughters.
2.5
Fearing for her well-being, the complainant fled Pakistan alone. She arrived in
Canada on 11 January 2007 and filed a refugee claim with the Canadian Refugee Board,
which was rejected on 15 January 2010. She could not afford a lawyer to appeal the
decision.
2.6
On 9 February 2010, the complainant’s husband divorced her, having believed B.’s
adultery allegations. The entire village believed that the complainant had committed
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