A team effort: Women, accused of being kari, rescued and sent to shelter
The women were identified as Ajeeban, Mohammad Bux Shar’s wife, and Khursheedan, Mehmood Hassan’s wife.
SUKKUR:
Two women who were rescued after being kidnapped have been sent to a shelter on Wednesday. They were declared ‘karis’ by people in their village.
The women were identified as Ajeeban, Mohammad Bux Shar’s wife, and Khursheedan, Mehmood Hassan’s wife. They were kidnapped along with their children Akhtiar Ali and Aitibar Ali last Sunday.
The women hailed from Dur Mohammad Shar, a village close to Sukkur’s Chak. They were kidnapped on their way to a clinic in Chak.
Former MNA, Dr Ibrahim Jatoi, intervened and was able to secure their release on Monday night. However, that was not the end of the trial for Ajeeban and Khursheedan.
A large number of Shar clansmen gathered in a jirga on Tuesday. At the head were Mohammad Mithal Shar, Qurban Shar and Liaqat Shar. For reasons that have yet to become clear, the jirga declared the two women ‘karis’ and ordered for them to be killed. The event caught the attention of the electronic media, which forced the police to spring to action.
After raiding multiple locations in the village, the police managed to rescue Ajeeban and Khursheedan and presented them in a civil court in the nearby Shikarpur on Wednesday.
SHO Ali Mohammad Mahar told The Express Tribune that both women told the court that they feared for their lives and therefore did not want to go back to their husbands. The court then ordered the police to arrange for them to be taken to the Darul Amman.
The police registered an FIR against 16 men for their involvement in the jirga and for ordering the murders. Some of the men nominated in the FIR include Mohammad Mithal Shar, Liaqat Shar, Qurban Shar, Barkat Shar, Shoukat Shar and Manghan Shar, but the police have so far made no arrests.
Rumours were floating around that Ajeeban had already been killed by her husband and that only one of the women was brought to court. However, SHO Mahar told this newspaper that both women were presented before the judge and it took almost three hours to confirm their identities.
Efforts to contact Dr Ibrahim Jatoi, and MPAs Sheheryar Mahar and Dr Nasrullah Baloch went in vain. However, a leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Sardar Wahid Bux Bhayo, told The Express Tribune that the jirga was wrong to declare the women kari. He added that since proper Shariah law was not implemented in the country, it created an opening for elders in communities to continue to hold jirgas and make these kinds of decisions.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2012.
Two women who were rescued after being kidnapped have been sent to a shelter on Wednesday. They were declared ‘karis’ by people in their village.
The women were identified as Ajeeban, Mohammad Bux Shar’s wife, and Khursheedan, Mehmood Hassan’s wife. They were kidnapped along with their children Akhtiar Ali and Aitibar Ali last Sunday.
The women hailed from Dur Mohammad Shar, a village close to Sukkur’s Chak. They were kidnapped on their way to a clinic in Chak.
Former MNA, Dr Ibrahim Jatoi, intervened and was able to secure their release on Monday night. However, that was not the end of the trial for Ajeeban and Khursheedan.
A large number of Shar clansmen gathered in a jirga on Tuesday. At the head were Mohammad Mithal Shar, Qurban Shar and Liaqat Shar. For reasons that have yet to become clear, the jirga declared the two women ‘karis’ and ordered for them to be killed. The event caught the attention of the electronic media, which forced the police to spring to action.
After raiding multiple locations in the village, the police managed to rescue Ajeeban and Khursheedan and presented them in a civil court in the nearby Shikarpur on Wednesday.
SHO Ali Mohammad Mahar told The Express Tribune that both women told the court that they feared for their lives and therefore did not want to go back to their husbands. The court then ordered the police to arrange for them to be taken to the Darul Amman.
The police registered an FIR against 16 men for their involvement in the jirga and for ordering the murders. Some of the men nominated in the FIR include Mohammad Mithal Shar, Liaqat Shar, Qurban Shar, Barkat Shar, Shoukat Shar and Manghan Shar, but the police have so far made no arrests.
Rumours were floating around that Ajeeban had already been killed by her husband and that only one of the women was brought to court. However, SHO Mahar told this newspaper that both women were presented before the judge and it took almost three hours to confirm their identities.
Efforts to contact Dr Ibrahim Jatoi, and MPAs Sheheryar Mahar and Dr Nasrullah Baloch went in vain. However, a leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Sardar Wahid Bux Bhayo, told The Express Tribune that the jirga was wrong to declare the women kari. He added that since proper Shariah law was not implemented in the country, it created an opening for elders in communities to continue to hold jirgas and make these kinds of decisions.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2012.