Swara case: 10 jirga members granted bail

The jirga that had ordered for a 13-year-old girl to be married to an old man to settle a family feud.

MINGORA: An additional session judge on Saturday accepted bail petitions of 10 members of a jirga that had ordered for a 13-year-old girl to be married to an old man to settle a family feud.

The judge granted them bail on payment of Rs200,000; however, he rejected the bail petition of Manglor Police SHO Hasham Ali.

As per the court order, Taj Muhammad (to whom the girl was to be married), Rozi Khan, Mian Sher Ali, Mian Barkat Ali, Khan Rehman, Khan Sher, Luquman Khan, Jan Bakht, and Shamsher Ali will be released from jail. The men were arrested on the orders of DIG police of Malakand Division. A committee had also been formed to record statements of the girl, Sadia*, her father and her brother.

However, the family withdrew the case soon after, allegedly under pressure from the rival family.

Swara is a custom in the Pakhtun belt, under which girls are forcibly married to men of rival families to settle disputes.

*Name has been changed to protect identity.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2012.