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Elderly man shot dead amid litigation over free-will marriage

SUKKUR: A group of armed men on Thursday stormed the autaq (guest room) of a community elder and shot him dead to take away a woman provided shelter there amid litigation over her free-will marriage about six months ago.

The armed men riding two vehicles drove to the house of the community elder, Afzal Almani, and opened fire killing his close elderly relative, Mushtaq Almani, before forcibly taking away Sawera Almani, a resident of Lal Almani village which falls within the limits of the Khanpur Mahar police station in Ghotki district.

Sawera had contracted a free-will marriage with Inam Pitafi, a resident of Gullu Pitafi village of the same district. However, the matter of “unacceptable marriage” was taken to a jirga (tribal court), which ruled the marriage null and void and handing over of the woman to her parents.

Inam Pitafi had to go into hiding and filed an application in the sessions court and then in the Sindh High Court’s Sukkur bench against the jirga ruling.

A notable of the Almani community, Zain Almani, speaking to reporters at the Khanpur Mahar taluka hospital alleged that the killers belonged to the Pitafi community.

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