Archaic traditions: Seven suspects arrested in swara case

Girl’s father claims family elders forced him to give away his daughter.

SWABI: Seven people allegedly involved in swara were arrested on Monday, while the girl in question was recovered by Swabi police from Faqirabad area of the city.

Swabi city police official Izhar Shah said they were informed at around 9:00am by residents of Faqirabad that a girl, Hussan Bibi, was being married in swara to a boy in their area. Shah added police raided the hujra of the girl’s father Muhammad Khan and arrested seven people, including a local cleric, and shifted them to jail.

Muhammad Khan told the police his son and Raza Khan’s daughter had eloped a year back after which Raza Khan and the local jirga forced him to give his daughter in swara to Raza’s younger son Muhammad Sohail.



The official added the elders of both families had decided to solve the dispute between the two families by swara and thus the fathers of the boy and girl, along with a cleric and other relatives, congregated in Muhammad Khan’s hujra to go through with the ritual. However, police raided the area just before the nikkah and arrested all the accused.



Cleric Razi Aman, who is also in police custody, said he was not informed by either of the families that this was a case of swara. He added neither the girl nor the boy hinted at it either. Police said the arrested accused include Abdur Rahman, Gohar Ali, Sohail and Ali Gohar, while the girl was sent to Darul Aman.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2013.