Ghotki couple chain themselves outside SC

Urge court to grant them protection

ISLAMABAD: A Ghotki couple, who had married each other for love but were now facing threats to their life, have chained themselves to a pole on Constitution Avenue outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday.

They have stated that they will stay on the narrow strip of greenbelt until they get justice.

Ghulam Rasool told Daily Express that he and his wife, Zarina, had contracted marriage in 2016 in Ghotki. However, both now faced a threat to their lives in their native area. Rasool added that his parents have also received death threats and demanded protection from the state.



He added that some powerful people including his wife’s uncle were involved in demolishing their shops.

“We would rather starve to death than go back,” Rasool said, as he refused offers to have food.

Asked why they had chained themselves to each other, Rasool explained that it was so that the police could not remove them forcibly from the spot and thus hamper their chances of getting noticed by the top court.



Zarina said that they wanted to be given their right and justice. The Secretariat police, however, later arrested the couple and moved them to the police station.

Police later said that the couple very much wanted to live in their native area, but the girl’s family is not willing to allow that. As a result, the two had travelled to Islamabad and were protesting outside the Supreme Court building.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2018.