Feudal justice: Jirga orders man to pay Rs5.3m for killing pregnant wife, two others

The jirga was presided over by former premier Zaffarullah Jamali.

SUKKUR: A jirga allegedly held at the farmhouse of the prime minister's adviser Imtiaz Shaikh on Monday resolved a three-year-old bloody dispute between the Pathan and Jamali families.

It was decided that Abdul Qadir Jamali would pay Rs5.3 million for killing three women, two of whom were pregnant. According to sources, the jirga was held at Shaikh's farmhouse in Shikarpur and was presided over by former Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali. Shaikh's elder brother and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Maqbool Shaikh was also in attendance along with a large number of men from both families.

Both parties, Aurangzeb Pathan and Abdul Qadir Jamali, presented their case to the jirga after which Abdul Qadir was found guilty of attacking Aurangzeb's house in Shikarpur and killing his daughter, Amna, and two others. The other women were identified as Aurganzeb's wife Afroze, Saddam Hussain Pathan's wife Naghma. Since Amna, who was Abdul Qadir's wife, and Naghma were said to have been pregnant at the time of the murder, the jirga ruled that Abdul Qadir had taken five lives and would have to pay accordingly.

It was decided that he would pay Rs1.2 million for killing each woman and then another Rs600,000 for the unborn children. An additional fine of Rs500,000 was imposed on Abdul Qadir for attacking Aurangzeb's house.

After accepting the jirga's verdict, the Jamalis paid Rs200,000 and said the remaining amount would be paid by the end of July this year. Before the jirga dispersed, both parties embraced and promised to withdraw the cases filed against each other.

While talking to the media after the jirga, the former prime minister said that he saw no harm in reconciling a dispute between two families. He added that the women, were killed three years ago in broad daylight and the police had done nothing about it. The former premier claimed that Qisas and Diyat were in accordance with Islamic law and the jirga had imposed a fine on the accused which would be paid directly to the affected family.

Family history

In 2010, Abdul Qadir, a resident of Shaheed Benazirabad had married Aurangzeb's daughter Amna. A couple of months into the marriage the couple started fighting and Amna left for Shikarpur to live with her parents.

To end the matter quickly, Aurangzeb filed a divorce application on behalf of his daughter at a family court in Shikarpur. This enraged Abdul Qadir and drove him to murder on November 3, 2011. Aurangzeb's son-in-law arrived at this wife's house with some men and opened fire at Amna, his mother-in-law Afroze and his brother-in-law's wife. Abdul Qadir was also upset at the fact that his wife was pregnant. He suspected the child was not his.

Official version

When contacted, PPP's Maqbool Shaikh told The Express Tribune that the jirga did not take place within the limit of Shikarpur but was held at Dera Murad Jamali in Balochistan. He said the former prime minister was actually visiting him at his farmhouse and wanted to congratulate him on his son's wedding. He added that they took advantage of him being there and held the jirga to sort out the matter as soon as possible.

Last month the Shikarpur police lodged an FIR against Pakistan Muslim League-Functional's Ghous Bux Mahar and 12 others for holding a jirga at Mahar House in Wazirabad. The police raided Mahar's house twice till he went to the high court and asked for protective bail.

The Express Tribune tried to contact Shikarpur SSP Altaf Leghari for a comment but he was not available and had switched his cell phone off.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2014.