Panchayat expels youth, family over marital dispute

Police register cases against seven suspects including relatives of couple

KURIANWALA:

A panchayat decided to expel a youth and his family to settle a marital dispute in a village near Khurrianwala on Wednesday.

Reportedly, the young man was also allegedly shot and injured by the girl’s family.

Around five days ago, the couple had reportedly eloped. The panchayat decided to deport the boy's family.

Meanwhile, the girl's family attacked the boy's family and opened fire on the young man.

Rescue 1122 personnel reached the spot and shifted the victim to a hospital after giving medical aid. Police registered a case against the panchayat members as well as the boy’s family and girl's family under three sections.

Police also launched a hunt to arrest the suspects.

According to the police report, Qayyum Ali, the son of Khalid Mahmood and a resident of suburban Chak No 151RB, Gujjar Singhwala, was in a relationship with the daughter of Babar Ali, a member of Sindhu family.

On July 3, the couple reportedly eloped after which the relatives of the girl including Jaffar Hussain, the son of Ali Bahadur, Shahbaz Ali, the son of Sardar Muhammad and Inayat, the son of Sheera summoned the relatives of the young man.

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The youth’s relatives included his father Khalid Mahmood, Tariq Ijaz and Muhammad Malik.

During the panchayat, it was decided that the boy’s father will bring back the girl, who ran away with Qayyum, within two days.

A condition was also set by the panchayat that if the young man and girl got married, the man will divorce her while Khalid and his family will vacate houses and leave the village within three days.

Khalid and certain members of his family then left the village after signing the panchayat decision.

However, the girl's relatives barged into Qayyum's house and opened fire. The suspects shot and injured 28-year-old Amir Ali, the son of Abdul Latif and a resident of Mirajpura.

Rescue 1122 personnel shifted him to Allied Hospital Faisalabad after providing medical aid. Police registered a against seven people including the panchayat members Jafar Hussain, Shahbaz Ali and Inayat, who had made the decision to expel the boy's family.

Khalid, Tariq, Malik and Qayyum were also booked under the provisions of Sections 341, 384 and 120B on the statement of Balochni police SHO Zulqarnain and started raids to find the suspects.

Khurrianwala DSP Mian Khalid told The Express Tribune that five days ago, the girl belonging to the Sindhu family, had eloped with Qayyum, a member of the Ansari community.

The couple reportedly wanted to get married. Meanwhile, the girl's family members, feeling disgraced due to the issue in the village, called the boy's family for a hearing at panchayat.

The boy’s relatives including the father Khalid were told to sign a panchayat decision. Later, Qayyum’s parents had left the village while Khalid's brother Tariq and other relatives were still present in the village.

The DSP added that DSP raids were being carried out to arrest the suspects.

SSP Operation Muhammad Afzal and Jaranwala SP Rizwan Tariq had formed teams headed by the DSP to arrest the seven suspects.

Police also seized the cattle belonging to the panchayat members and the girl's family.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2021.