Police foil bid to give minor girl under Swara in Swat

K-P police registered FIR against 17 accused and took 12 into custody; says efforts on to arrest others

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police foiled on Friday a bid to give away a minor girl in Swara as a means to strike peace between two warring parties in the Swat district.

According to details, the Khurshid Khan Shaheed police station in upper Swat received a tip-off about a six-year-old girl being handed over by a party in the case to another under the badla sulah - swara (exchange for peace) agreement.

Around 17 people were booked in the case. Among the 12 arrested by the police were identified as Raheem Zada, Umer Zada, Ikhtiyar Mand, Muhammad Naseeb, Ashiq Zada, Fazal Nawab, Shehmad Khan, Muhammad Hussain, Hussain Zada, Najeebullah, Umer Syed, and Serbuland Aasil Zada.

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The K-P police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the 17 accused under Sections 39 CPA and 310A PPC. Efforts were on to arrest the rest of the accused, the police informed.

The district has been witnessing similar cases of Swara involving young girls, calling for a greater need for action against the crime.

In August last year, Swabi police recovered two minor girls who were sold by their father to be taken to Punjab. The district police officer had said the deal was underway through a middleman and the girls were about to be taken to the province.