Father of 16 declared karo

DEHARKI: A 65-year-old man with 16 children has been declared ‘karo’ by a landlord because he could not pay back his loan.

Resident of the Fatehpur village Lal Baksh Shar has been unable to pay Rs500,000 for cattle the landlord Muhammad Somar Shar had bought for him five years ago. As he defaulted, Somar Shar declared the elderly man to be karo with his 18-year-old niece, Subhana. Lal Baksh Shar told Express News that when he could not pay back the money, the landlord kept assuring him that it was not a big deal.

“But later, despite his false assurances, he declared me karo, that too, with my own niece,” he said. “After I did not comply with his decision, he sent an armed group of men who ransacked my house and took eight of my goats.” He appealed for protection against the landlord and his men, claiming that his life was in danger.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 12th, 2010.