MULTAN:
Dera Ghazi Khan District Police Officer Chaudhry Saleem has ordered a case against 10 people who headed a panchayat that declared three daughters of a woman as wani.
Saleem had ordered the police to conduct an enquiry into the incident after the story appeared in the media. The people against whom the case has been ordered include former mayor Farooq Changwani. The case was registered under Sections 365/347, 348/148, 149 by the Jhok Utra police on November 11. Three of the 10 suspects have been arrested so far.
Police said the panchayat had declared three daughters of Ayesha Mai as wani for not paying Rs1 million and handing over six kanals of agricultural land to the family of a man whose daughter had eloped with Mai’s husband. Police said Mai’s daughters were still in the custody of the suspects.
Saleem has ordered protection for Mai, but she says she does not trust police.
Talking to The Express Tribune from an undisclosed location, she said police could ignore their duty.
“I will file a petition with the Multan bench of the Lahore High Court to seek justice,” she said.
Jhok Utra Station House Officer Abdur Raheem Leghari said Mai wanted to record her statement in Multan. He said she felt that she could be killed as the panchayat had decided to shoot her if she was found in Dera Ghazi Khan.
The DPO told The Tribune police were putting in every effort to arrest the accused. “We will not let them escape or kill Mai’s daughters,” he said.
People close to developments say the suspects have escaped to Balochistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2012.
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