Jirga announces ‘public humiliation’ as best punishment

Two who beat up, shaved, blackened, paraded man arrested, claim obeying jury's punishment for illicit relations.

SIALKOT: Police officials have claimed to have arrested two accused out of seven, who publicly tortured a young man after shaving his head, eyebrows and mustaches.

The accused said that they were merely obeying the orders of a local jury, as this was the punishment for having illicit relations.

According to the police, local villagers called a jirga after they discovered a local youth Shehbaz (28) with a local girl. The jury met at the Dera of a local landlord Chaudhry Allah Rakha and several people testified against Shehbaz. The members of the local jirga then beat him with lead pipes and hockey sticks and shaved his head, eyebrows and moustache, before parading him in the streets.

The men also painted Shehbaz’s face black and sat him on a donkey while he was paraded in neighbouring villages. His family was forced to leave the village as punishment. The victim suffered severe injuries to his arms and legs, both his legs were fractured, and is currently in the hospital.

The grieved family has demanded immediate justice by the government and the early arrest of the accused. Meanwhile, station house officer (SHO) Zafarwal police station inspector Khawaja Khawar told reporters that the police had registered a case against seven accused, out of which two accused Habib and Latif had been arrested.

He said that the remaining accused including the jirga head Chaudhry Allah Rakha would also be arrested soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2010.