Woman`s hair clipped; paraded

By Nabeel Anwar Dhakku

CHAKWAL: A married woman went through a double agony — she had her locks clipped and then was paraded in her village.

Sadia Parveen, a resident of Kharli village of Kalar Kahar tehsil, was married to Hafiz Javed Iqbal, who used to stay in Rawalpindi most of the time to make a living. He visited his house only once or twice a year.

A few months ago Sadia’s grandfather Haji Basheer undertook repairs of his house. Two labourers hailing from Multan, Hafeez and Nadeem, were among the labourers employed by Haji Basheer.

Sadia fell in love with Nadeem.

A month ago she eloped with Nadeem with the assistance of Hafeez.

Sadia tied the knot with Nadeem in Multan.

Haji Basheer and his sons decided to teach Sadia Parveen a lesson.

They broke into Nadeem’s house in Multan in the last week of February, abducting Fauzia, the wife of Hafeez, and her brother along with Sadia, and brought them to their own village, the SHO of Kallar Kahar police station said.

They reached their home on March 6 and locked all of them in a room. The next day Haji Basheer and his sons forced Sadia to accompany them to a village square and invited the villagers to “come and watch a spectacle”. They then clipped the locks of Sadia and spattered black ink on her face. As if this humiliation were not enough, they paraded Sadia in the village.

Their anger did not end here. They plotted to kill Sadia on March 8, but some villagers alerted police to the danger.

A police party raided the village to rescue Sadia. When Haji Basheer and his sons learnt about the arrival of police, they ran away.

But when Sadia was produced before the District and Sessions Judge on Wednesday, she denied the torture, saying that she herself had clipped her hair.

“We tried our best to bring the culprits to book, but the victim herself has preferred to keep mum,” SHO Ghulam Abbas lamented.

Source: Dawn

Date:3/10/2011