Ten-year-old Seema was handed over to her maternal uncle by the Ghotki district and sessions court after her father allegedly tried to sell her off to an elderly man for Rs375,000.
Khan Mohammad Mahar, Seema’s father, sold her in marraige to 60-year-old Achar Mahar and she was being taken away when the Khanpur Mahar police raided Khan’s house.
The police arrived as the deal was being finalised and arrested Khan, while Achar escaped.
In her statement Seema told the court that her father is a “greedy man and wanted to sell her for Rs375,000”. She said that she does not want to live with her father and would like to live with her maternal uncle, Abid Mahar. The court allowed her to go with him. Seema said that her father sold her elder sister for Rs145,000. “I have four daughters and my husband has already sold one and tried to sell my other daughter,” her mother, Shamshad Khatoon confirmed.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2011.
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