A police official said raids were being conducted to arrest the girl’s father Sher Zamin. PHOTO: FILE
Six jirga members apprehended by the police while attempting to give away a girl in swara were sent on a two-day judicial remand on Monday. The attempt was foiled after the police raided a jirga in Ragstoon, Matta tehsil on Sunday.
The accused were produced before the court of judicial magistrate Dost Muhammad Khan. They include jirga elder Hamid, Khan Zarin, Bacha Rawan, Shadal, Akbar Ali and Qalandar.
A police official said raids were being conducted to arrest the girl’s father Sher Zamin.
The Kalakot police took action against the jirga following a tip-off. The jirga was planning to marry six-year-old Hasina in swara to Akbar Ali’s eight-year-old son Imran to settle a dispute. Hasina’s uncle Gul Zamin had allegedly kidnapped Akbar’s daughter a while ago on the pretext of marrying her. The move had triggered enmity between the two families. According to the law on child marriage, the minimum age of marriage for any person is 16 years. Anyone found guilty of performing, conducting or directing any child marriage may be imprisoned for up to month, or fined up to Rs1,000, or both.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2013.
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