The culprits are not dealt with by law because of biradari or the jirga system.
JOHI: Cases of rape and gang rape are becoming increasingly frequent in the land of the pure. The civilised world has made laws to criminalise and punish rape — including marital rape. Due to feudalism dominated politics in the developing world, whose interests lie in maintaining the status quo of widespread rape incidents.
The culprits are not dealt with by law because of biradari or the jirga system. One such case in Taluka Johi in Dadu is making headlines in the local press. A 10-year-old girl was reportedly married to an older man. The girl refused, but was forced into it anyway. When she visited her parent’s family after the marriage, she refused to go to back to her husband’s home.
Later it was reported that the sister of the girl’s husband, after giving her drugs, handed the girl to a man who secretly ran a brothel. It was here that the poor girl was raped. She was severely injured and breathed her last after reaching hospital.
However, the other version of the story doing rounds is that the stepmother of the girl poisoned the young victim. The police are clueless, the doctors are waiting for medical test results, but the culprits are free. The medical report would clear the picture. This rape case should also be investigated under the rape laws and under the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 2013 recently passed by the Sindh Assembly: the culprits should be given exemplary punishment. Even if the in-laws are not involved in the rape case, they should still be tried under the child marriage law. The majority of the people in this country, including some intellectuals, do not consider child marriage to be a serious issue. Child marriages, besides depriving girls of education, their right to play and separating them from their mothers, also gives a free hand to the husband to rape the 10, 12 or 15-year-old girl. The Child Marriage Restraint Act prescribes a three years’ imprisonment, Rs45,000 fine or both for those who force a young girl into a premature marriage. It should be implemented thoroughly.
Gulsher Panhwer
Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2014.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
