Police arrest 20 men for holding jirga in Shikarpur

Jirga had ordered a man to offer three girls as ‘compensation’.

SUKKUR: The police arrested on Monday night 20 people involved in a jirga in which a man was ordered to have two of his sisters and a niece married to members of the opposing party.

The jirga was held on Sunday night in Momin Kursi village in Shikarpur. It aimed at resolving a six-month-long dispute between two groups of the Jatoi clan that had been sparked by a marital dispute. Abdul Waheed Jatoi had labelled his wife ‘kari’ with Amanullah and asked her to leave the house.

A jirga, headed by Abdul Wahab Jatoi, ordered Amanullah to pay a fine of Rs200,000 to Abdul Waheed and have his two sisters and a niece married to members of the other group. The girls were reportedly between the ages of seven and 11.



Amanullah had accepted the ruling and has already given Abdul Wahab Rs50,000, promising to pay the rest later.

SHO Abdul Hameed Indhar, who is posted at the Daim Malik police station, told The Express Tribune that there was some confusion whether the jirga was held within its jurisdiction. There was an argument between the Daim Malik and Rustam police stations as to where the case should be registered. But once that was sorted out, a case was registered against 20 people at the Daim Malik police station. Those booked include Abdul Wahab Jatoi, Abdul Rasool Jatoi, Abdul Waheed Jatoi, Ghulam Nabi Jatoi, Amanullah Jatoi, Badaruddin Jatoi, Ali Nawaz Jatoi and Guhram Jatoi.



SHO Indhar added that the police had raided the village, but the accused had already fled from their houses. “We are now raiding various spots in order to arrest the culprits.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2012.