Paryal Mahar and his family were produced before the Civil Courts, Pannu Aqil, on Tuesday instead of Monday after resurfacing from an undisclosed location with the police's help. He and 24 others are allegedly responsible for holding a jirga, supervised by landlord Mohammad Ibrahim Mahar to settle four murders by bartering off 12 minor girls.
After the case was registered against 25 people at the Raza Goth police station, Paryal along with his wife and four daughters appeared on Saturday before the Shikarpur DPO who, after recording his statement, sent the family to Sukkur DPO Aitzaz Goraya, because the jirga was held in that jurisdiction. Goraya told the electronic media on Saturday that the family would be produced in court on Monday. But, for reasons best known to the police, Paryal and his family was produced before the Pannu Aqil civil judge, Altaf Dayo, on Tuesday morning.
In their statements before the court, Paryal and his family denied giving up the girls in compensation before the court, but they accepted paying Rs1.7 million in a fine for the murders. Goraya was not available on the phone for comment as his reader Abdul Ghaffar said that "he was on leave". The girls were allowed to go with their mother while Paryal was sent to jail on judicial remand, he added.
Meanwhile, SPO Sadhuja Badar Bhutto told The Express Tribune that DPO Goraya has suspended the Raza Goth SHO for his failure to arrest the men who had held the jirga. Landlord Ibrahim Mahar is not involved in the jirga, rather both parties have taken the decision on their own, he said.
Sindh Assembly
Presenting a report on the Pannu Aqil jirga, the law minister, Ayaz Soomro, said in the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday that a committee of seven police officials denied the jirga took place. He said the media created hype by claiming that the girls were to be exchanged under the ‘Sang Chatti’ tradition. “We can present video records of these girls and their parents, who have denied handing over the girls as compensation for murder,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 11th, 2011.
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