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Woman Of the Year award

Declan Walsh— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

Islamabad: MukhtaranBibi, a Pakistani rape victim, is to receive a ``Woman Of the Year'' award on Wednesday from the U.S. magazine Glamour. The 31-year-old Punjabi villager would also receive $20,000 at a ceremony in New York's Lincoln Centre alongside 11 other nominees including Catherine Zeta-Jones. ``This is a story that I think is going to shock everyone who hears it,'' said Cindi Leive, editor-in-chief of Glamour. Ms. Mukhtaran, also known as Mukhtar Mai, shot to prominence three years ago for her court testimony against neighbours who gang-raped her on the orders of a council of elders. The rape sparked international outrage and a legal saga that is now before Pakistan's Supreme Court, where 13 men could face the death penalty. U.S. media and civil rights groups have showered Ms Mukhtaran, who is barely literate, with plaudits since she arrived from Lahore last week. She has given talks in Chicago and Washington and was named ``person of the week'' by ABC news. The New York Daily News described her as Pakistan's answer to Rosa Parks, the civil rights pioneer who died last month. Glamour magazine's previous women of the year include former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, pop star Britney Spears and actor Ellen DeGeneres. The former president Bill Clinton will present the award, the BBC reported.

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