Forced marriage: Minor girl’s family being forced for reconciliation

Kosar, 9, was married off to Ismail, 35, without the consent of her parents.


Our Correspondent October 15, 2012

HARIPUR:


The family of an underage girl who was forcibly married off without the consent of her parents is facing pressure to reconcile the divorce case, family sources said on Wednesday.


Originally from Dakhan Sosal Naray village of Mansehra, Kosar, 9, along with her mother and two younger sisters, went to visit her maternal uncle Muhammad Nawaz in Haripur during Ramazan. On September 9, Nawaz, without seeking the consent of Kosar’s parents, solemnised her nikkah with Ismail, 35, his brother-in-law.

“When I refused to give a thumb impression on the nikah nama (marriage certificate), my uncle beat me up and threatened to kill me,” Kosar told newsmen.

The rukhsati was not yet finalised when Kosar’s brother, Sajjad Ahmed informed the police. The police arrested Ismail, prayer leader Qari Habib, registrar Suleman and two witnesses under sections 366 and 506/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Human Development Organisation (HDO), a local non-governmental organisation, intervened and filed a divorce case on the behalf of the victim, contesting the bail applications of the accused, including the prayer leader and registrar, and got their applications rejected from the court.

According to Sajjad, his father, who was a heart patient, had a cardiac arrest right after hearing the news of the marriage. He said the proceedings on the divorce were not started when the accused party started pressurising him and his family members for reconciliation.

The accused party called a jirga, whose members promised to get Kosar divorced from Ismail on the condition of withdrawal of her case against the accused. According to Kosar’s family, they tried to produce a reconciliation paper before the court of judicial magistrate Nadia Hasan, which the court rejected.

Meanwhile, HDO’s counsel for the victim, Tahir Masood Alvi, completed his arguments on the bail application of Nawaz on Wednesday, praying for cancellation of the case on the grounds that the offense was non-bailable and certain sections of Women Protection Act also discourage granting bail in such cases.

He termed the offense a violation of human rights involving a child.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2012. 

COMMENTS (1)

Raw is War | 11 years ago | Reply

As per ISLAM, 9 years is ok.

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