Three-year girl sold for Rs30,000

SUKKUR: A three-year-old girl was sold (into marriage) for Rs30,000 by her father in Mohammad Panah Brohi village in the Bahoo Khoso area near Thull in Jacobabad district on Monday.

The girl’s mother Noor Khatoon told a team of journalists who rushed to the village after getting information about the marriage that her husband Shamsuddin Brohi had sold their daughter Lal Pari to Saddam Hussain Brohi, 16, son of Abdul Sattar for Rs30,000.

She said that it was agreed upon between Saddam Hussain, a resident of Jamshoro, and Shamsuddin that Nikkah would be solemnised after six months and Rukhsati would take place on the day of Nikkah.

Noor Khatoon has appealed to Sindh government and human rights organisations to save her daughter from underage marriage.

According to local journalists, Shamsuddin works as a plumber and earns Rs150 to Rs200 a day. He has two sons of 4 and 5 years of age, respectively, and three daughters, Lal Pari, 3, and two others of 8 months and 18 months of age.

Shamsuddin told journalists that his poverty forced him to take such a decision because he was not in a position to look after his family.

Jacobabad DPO Pervez Chandio said that he had sent SHO Mukhtiar Ahmed Soomro of Bahoo Khoso police station to Mohammad Panah Brohi village to conduct an inquiry.

An FIR would be registered after the inquiry and further action would be taken under the law, he said.

Source: Dawn

Date:6/28/2011