Gang rape victim Mukhtar Mai walks runway at Pakistan's fashion week

Gang-raped and paraded naked in public 14 years ago, Mukhtar Mai has walked the fashion runway during Pakistan's fashion week.
                 

A red-carpet reception in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, attended by the country's fashion elite, served as the forum for Mai's symbolic fashion debut - something she said she's doing as a model of courage and hope for other Pakistani women.

"If one step I take, if that helps even one woman, I would be very happy to do that," Mai said.

In 2002, Mai was sentenced by a local council of tribal elders to be gang raped and publicly humiliated as punishment for her brother's perceived insult to a rival family.

Fourteen men - the alleged rapists and the tribal council members - were put on trial, and six were handed the death sentence. But all of them were eventually released on appeal.

Afterward she moved around freely through the crowds, chatting with well-wishers and allowing a steady stream of admirers to take selfies with her.

The annual fashion showcase was started in 2009 in defiance to religious fundamentalists in Pakistan who sought to enforce strict dress codes and behavioural restrictions on Pakistani women.