We have been working with the Pakistan Telecom Authority, the Pakistan Universal Service Fund and operators to achieve universal service in that country. Universal service means a phone for everyone. But according to this report there are people in Pakistan who will kill barbarically to prevent this goal from being achieved.
A young mother of two has been put to death in Pakistan for possessing a cell phone, Opposing Views reported on Thursday.
Arifa Bibi was executed three months ago, on July 11, after a Pakistani tribal court sentenced her to death by stoning. Her uncle, cousins and other family members carried out the order and threw stones at the woman until she died – all because she had a mobile phone. She was buried in the desert far away from her home village and, according to reports, her family was not permitted to be involved in her funeral.
I hope my Pakistani friends will tell me this report is wrong. If not, we have to completely revise our approach to universal service and perhaps use universal service funds to safeguard the lives of women who wish to use phones.
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