Village set ablaze over love marriage

A brutal act of revenge over a free-will marriage, which involved setting an entire village ablaze in Jacobabad, finally drew the attention of police authorities 10 days after the incident.

The Jacobabad police lodged a First Information Report (FIR) on Saturday regarding the incident and arrested five suspects among the thirty-two nominated individuals.

Jacobabad SSP Faizan Ali also formed an investigation team and assured the affected people that all culprits would be brought to justice.

The tragedy unfolded in village Muhammad Siddique Arain in Mirpur Burirro, which was allegedly attacked on May 5 by over a hundred armed men from the Channa tribe.

According to the residents of the Burirro tribe, the attackers fired gunshots, forced people out of their homes and later set their houses on fire along with all their belongings and valuables.

The attackers belonging to village Ghazi Khan Channa committed the savagery as punishment for Burirros, one of whom had recently married a girl from the Channa tribe without her parents' consent.

Sidra Channa solemnized her marriage with Muhammad Hassan Burirro in Hyderabad earlier this month in a court. Speaking to the media, she said she left her house of her own free will to marry Hassan and did not take any valuables with her. She demanded protection, citing death threats from her family.

According to former prime minister Muhammad Mian Soomro who visited the affected village on Saturday, the attackers burned down 80 houses.

He said two girls from the village also went missing after the attack, adding that the girls might have been killed or kidnapped. "No law or morality can condone such a cruel and heinous revenge," he said.

He urged the judiciary to take notice and requested the well-off people from the society to come forward to provide relief to hundreds of victims that tragedy who spend days under scorching sun of May in one of the world's hottest areas.

He said the police have arrested some suspects but more names should be added in the FIR. "The affected people know well who burnt their homes," he said.