School-going children declared karo-kari

WARA: A class-VII student has been declared guilty of fornication with an eight-year-old girl by a jirga on Saturday.

Labelling the children, Aslam Channa and Safia Kharo, karo-kari, the local jirga also imposed a fine of Rs250,000 on the boy and prohibited him from coming out of his house for the next six months. The jirga was held in village Gaji Khawer in Wara under the command of Sarai Gul Mohammad Kharo.

If Aslam’s family does not pay the fine, they will be thrown out of the village. Later, the tribunal pardoned Rs50,000 but said that half of the remaining sum, that is Rs100,000, must be paid up within two days while the rest could be paid after one month.

When the chief, Muhammad Kharo, was contacted by Daily Express, he denied that the jirga took place. According to him, the rumours were spread because some people were trying to defame him.

However, Aslam’s family members refuted the chief’s statement, saying that Kharo was only denying what happened because he was scared.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 13^th,2010.