Forced marriage victim demands justice

Gondal, who is employed with the CDA, forced Parveen to sign a marriage contract at gunpoint in 2007.

ISLAMABAD:

A resident of District Mandi Bahauddin, Nighat Parveen, has moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking to register a rape case against Haji Ahmed Gondal, who allegedly forced her to marry him at gunpoint.

The petitioner’s council, Muhammad Ahmed Malik, said that Gondal, who is employed with the Capital Development Authority, forced Parveen to sign a marriage contract at gunpoint in 2007. The council said that the petitioner has since been in Gondal’s custody and repeatedly raped.

He said that at the time of the forced marriage, Gondal was already married to the petitioner’s elder sister, Riffat Rehana Kausar. Having two sisters as wives is a cognizable offence under Islamic law, he added. He also alleged that Gondal forced Kausar to abort two pregnancies.

He said that Parveen had earlier reported the case to the police who refused to register the case. He pleaded the court to register an FIR against Gondal for forcing the petitioner into marriage and committing zina. The case will be heard by the chief justice of IHC on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2011.