THE tribal council did not believe the 11-year-old boy had done no wrong when he walked unchaperoned with a girl from a different tribeBut the council in Meerwala, Pakistan, did not punish the boy.

Instead, they ordered his 18-year-old sister to be gang raped to bring shame on the family. And they decided four council members should do it.

She was taken to a mud hut and they took turns, as hundreds of people stood outside laughing and cheering.

“I touched their feet. I wept. I cried,” she said. “I said 'I taught the holy Koran to children in the village, therefore don't punish me for a crime which was not committed by me'. But they tore my clothes and raped me one by one.”

As she spoke, her mother Allah Bachai wailed as she sat beside her at their home in the village in southern Punjab province.

Senior police and provincial government officials visited Meerwala yesterday to investigate.

Asef Hayyat, Punjab’s deputy inspector general of police, said the top officer at the local police station had been suspended and several close relatives of the suspects were detained to pressure the perpetrators into surrendering.

“We will soon arrest the real culprits,” Mr Hayyat said.

Pakistan has a tradition of tribal justice in which crimes or affronts to dignity are punished outside the framework of Pakistani law. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has demanded an end to punishments by tribal councils.

The rape, which occurred on June 22, has outraged rights groups, who say the number of atrocities against women in Pakistan is increasing.

And Pakistan’s Supreme Court yesterday directed top Punjab police and government officials to attend a special hearing on the case tomorrow.

Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad described the case as a violation of human rights.

Rana Ijaz, the Punjab government’s law minister, was among the officials who visited the village and promised a full investigation and assistance to the victim’s family.

The Mastoi tribe demanded punishment after the teenager’s brother was seen walking unchaperoned with a Mastoi girl in a deserted part of the village. The brother and sister are from the Gujar tribe, which is considered lower class.

The tribe called a meeting of the tribal council. The teenager’s father, Ghulam Farid, 54, said he pleaded for clemency with the council, telling them the Mastoi girl was safe with his son because he was too young to have sex. “I begged them ... my daughter is a very pious girl,” he said. “I reminded them, ‘She has been teaching holy Koran to your children, you are fully aware of her character’,” he said.

Among the men on the tribal council was Mohammed Ramzan, the Mastoi girl’s uncle, he said.

“Nobody supported me. There was no one to protect my daughter.”