Day: November 8, 2012

By: Fazal Khaliq

SWAT: Two members of a jirga have been arrested for ordering marriage of a six-year-old girl to resolve a family dispute in a village in Swat.

Police registered a First Information Report against Bahadar Khan and Umar Zada, residents of Asharey village in Matta Tehsil, under sections 310-A, 511 and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of the girl’s father, Azeem Khan.

The case of swara came to light after Azeem and his wife approached the media on October 30, appealing the Supreme Court chief justice and the president and prime minister of Pakistan to protect their daughter, Bibi Roza.

Azeem said the issue started two years ago when his son, Ameer Zada, got married to Bacha Gai. He said Bahadar started making “false claims” that his daughter-in-law had been engaged to Bahadar’s nephew, Saran Zeb, prior to getting married to his son. He said that Bahadar visited his son, who had moved to Saudi Arabia, pressurising him to annul his marriage and even took Rs500,000 from him as compensation.

Azeem said the matter was resolved between the family, but after Bahadar returned to Pakistan, he abducted Bacha and solemnised her nikah with Sarab. In the meantime, he also tried to get Saran married to Mahjabeen, a sister of Bacha through a local jirga.

Azeem said that with the help of a local court, his daughter-in-law was recovered and handed over to him.

However, he said that a few months later, Bahadar again raised the issue and registered a case against his son and daughter-in-law, who were both arrested and sent to Temargara Jail. Again, the matter was resolved with the help of a local jirga and the couple was freed, Azeem added.

On October 30, Bahadar along with two of Azeem’s brothers — Dawood and Umar Zada — decided to resolve the matter “permanently” by marrying Azeem’s daughter, Bibi, to Saran.

“My brother Umar beat me up and the jirga members threatened to kill me and destroy my house if I refuse to comply with the verdict,” said Azeem, who also accused the Asharey Police Station House Officer Shah Dawran of endorsing the jirga’s decision.

“The SHO forced me to sign an agreement to give my daughter in Swara,” he claimed. The SHO has denied the accusations. “As soon as I got to know about the case, I communicated the details to the circle district superintendent of police (DSP) to take necessary action,” he said.

When contacted, Deputy Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Gandapur said two suspects have been arrested and further investigations into the case are underway.
He assured that strict action will be taken against the accused once the inquiry is completed.

The Express Tribune

We witness yet another act of ‘honour’ killing. Fifteen-year-old Anusha, had acid poured over her by her own parents as she slept at her home in the village of Khoi Ratta near Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir.

She died in agony two days later. Anusha’s brutal murder was ‘punishment’ for ‘looking at boys’. Her mother, Zaheen Bibi had originally claimed that Anusha was ‘destined to die’. Since then Zaheen has expressed remorse over the act, wondering who will care for her six remaining children, all under the age of ten. But expressions of regret do nothing to reduce the hideous nature of this crime committed by parents against their own child.

Unfortunately, Anusha is not alone in her tragedy. Of the 943 cases of ‘honour’ killings reported last year, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says some 600 were killed – usually by their own family members – on grounds of ‘illicit relations’. Other similar deaths in the country either go unreported or passed off by families as suicides.

While there has been an increase in awareness about violence against women, the number of ‘honour’ killings has continued to rise. Laws against such murders have had little impact and it is obvious that, as in the case of Anusha, they are linked to prevailing mindsets regarding women. The fact that so many murderers get away with ‘honour’ crimes only adds to the problem. The way we treat women in our society needs to be challenged, with wider reforms introduced to elevate the status of women in the country. We can start by ensuring women’s right to education, and the right to be treated as equal citizens under law.

Somehow we need to pull ourselves out of this age of ignorance, particularly when it comes to women’s rights, that we have remained trapped in too long. Anusha’s murder should act as a reminder of all that we need to do to make this a country where women are not dispensed with as barbarically as we saw in this case. There must be no more victims of crimes as horrific as the one that ended Anusha’s brief life.

The News

SUKKUR: An accused shot dead his wife in Khairpur. Police said that in village Sajan Panhyar of Nara desert town of Khairpur, the accused shot his wife Hameeda Panhyar dead on alleged charges of having illicit relations and managed to escape.

Police said that body was shifted to hospital for autopsy.

The News