ISLAMABAD: Two recent cases of swara — one reported in The Express Tribune on April 4, where a jirga decided to hand over a 12-year-old girl to resolve a family dispute and another one reported in an Urdu newspaper on April 9, where a jirga handed over a five-month-old girl to resolve a dispute occurring because of her uncle marrying out of choice — are in clear violations of the injunctions of Islam, of the Constitution of Pakistan and of all national and international laws. The chief justice of Pakistan and the government are requested to take immediate notice of these cases.
The Constitution of Pakistan provides legal guarantees, safeguarding the rights of both genders without any discrimination under Articles 4, 8, 14, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, 37 and 38. In 2004, the Criminal Law Act was enacted. Section 310(A) of this Act prohibits Badal-e-Sulh, under which girls/women cannot be given in marriage as compensation for someone else’s crime. It directly deals with all forms of “marriage as compensation” carried out under different names, such as swara, wani, sang chatt and irjaee. Under this Section, punishment for giving a female in marriage or otherwise, in Badal-e-Sulh is given as follows: “Whoever gives a female in marriage or otherwise in Badal-e-Sulh shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to 10 years but shall not be less than three years.” Moreover, an Act entitled Prevention of Anti-Women Practices (Criminal Law Amendment) Act, 2011 outlines strong punishments for social practices like wani, swara and Badal-e-Sulh, wherein women are traded to settle personal, family or tribal disputes.
There are a few other acts that prohibit anti-women practices but they do not propose a mechanism to ensure that such cases are reported and reach a court of law, which is a necessity as these crimes often go unchecked and unreported. It would be a landmark if a law can be passed, which effectively prevents such practices.
Shamreeza Riaz
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2013.
