Jirga justice: Father challenges flogging and exile order against ‘rapist’ son

The panchayat members filed a robbery complaint against him.

FAISALABAD:

A man challenged the decision of a panchayat in a rape case against his son and obtained a stay order against it on Saturday. Pre-empting the stay order, seven members of the panchayat filed a robbery complaint against the man’s son.

Nasrullah, a resident of Chak 491-GB, told media persons on Monday that a month back, a panchayat was called to adjudicate on a rape complaint against his son, Muhammad Asif. He said his son was accused of raping a girl from the area.

He said the seven-member panchayat ordered a Rs100,000 fine and 30 lashes in public. The punchayat also decided to expel Asif from the village for a minimum period of 10 years, he said. Nasrullah said that the panchayat had ruled that if he tried to bring his son back to the village, or keep any ties with him, his property would be seized and handed over to the victim’s family.

“Since the decision was completely one-sided, I challenged it in court and obtained a stay order against it,” he said.

Nasrullah said that the panchayat found out that I was going to challenge their order and before I could move against them, they filed a robbery complaint against Asif with the Mamu Kanjan police.

The Mamu Kanjan station house officer told The Express Tribune that they had received a robbery complaint against Asif, but no rape complaint. He said they were investigating the robbery and would not look into the rape allegations unless a formal complaint was filed. “If Asif is found guilty of robbery he would be arrested,” the SHO said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2014.