Unfinished business: Father caught for trying to sell 3-year-old daughter

The girl’s mother saves the day by appealing to reporters to unravel the truth of deal.

SUKKUR:

The Thull police arrested Shamsuddin Brohi on Tuesday for allegedly trying to sell his three-year-old daughter, Lal Pari, for Rs30,000 in Muhammad Pannah Brohi village.

Sources said Brohi struck a deal with 18-year-old Saddam Hussain, son of Abdul Sattar Brohi, nearly three months ago to sell Lal Pari. At the time of the deal, Brohi promised to hand over his daughter to Hussain after three months.

According to sources, Hussain came to Brohi’s house on Monday to tell him that he would take Lal Pari with him on Tuesday after solemnising their nikah. Brohi told him to bring few relatives for the ceremony, so word would not spread about the transaction, said sources.

When Hussain came to the house on Monday, Lal Pari’s mother Noor overheard the two men discussing plans for her daughter. “We are very poor and needed money to reconstruct our house, which was damaged in last year’s flood. My husband kept me in the dark and said he took a loan from a friend for the repairs and would pay it in installments but I realised he got the money from Hussain,” she explained.

She was against the deal so she appealed to reporters to help save her daughter. “I will never allow anybody to take away my innocent daughter no matter what,” she cried.

Thull SPO Sharafuddin Soomro raided the village to arrest Shamsuddin Brohi and locked him up at the police station.

In his statement before the SPO, Brohi admitted that he sold Lal Pari for Rs30,000, but denied marrying her off. The SPO confirmed Brohi’s arrest and told The Express Tribune that he confessed to his crime, which he said was driven by “extreme poverty”. After thoroughly investigating the case, an FIR will be lodged, added the SHO.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2011.