Family matters: Woman declared ‘kari’ for shaking uncle’s hand

Village elders order husband to release hounds upon her as punishment.

SUKKUR: A young woman was declared a kari for shaking hands with her maternal uncle in Badani Town, Kashmore.

Village elders decided that she should be punished and ordered her husband to unleash the hounds on her. The incident left Rasheeda severely injured. She managed to run away to her parent’s house. For the moment, the family has moved in with relatives and hope that the situation will improve.

Umair Ali Chachar, her father, is a resident of Kashmore and runs a motorcycle showroom in the area. He claims that five years ago he was forced to get his daughter, Rasheeda, married to Ghulam Nabi alias Gul Chachar of Badani. He said that after the couple was married, Gul used to torture Rasheeda and it was an abusive marriage.

According to Umair Ali, things became worse when Rasheeda’s uncle Piyaro Chachar went to visit her on Eid and she greeted him by shaking his hand - a custom in rural Sindh. Her husband, however, disapproved, and announced that his wife was a kari. While talking to the media, Umair Ali said that his son-in-law had put the case before the village elders, including Wahid Bux Chachar and Mithal Chachar, who ordered that he should unleash the hounds on her for ‘committing a heinous crime’.

“Following the elders verdict, my son-in-law unleashed dogs and as a result my daughter was injured,” he said. “Somehow she managed to escape from her husband’s house and took shelter with us.” Umair Ali added that he went to register a complaint at the Badani police station but they refused to do so. He felt that the best thing to do in the situation was to relocate the family to Daharki and stay with some relatives.

Umair Ali claims that they are not safe as his daughter’s husband and in-laws are threatening them.

What happened five years ago

While talking to The Express Tribune, Umair Ali said that Wahid Bux Chachar, Mithal Chachar and a few other influential people of the area implicated him and his son in a fake case.

In order to drop the charges, these men demanded that Rasheeda would have to marry Gul. “I couldn’t think of a way out so I gave in to their demands,” he said. “They got married and soon after he started beating her. This time, however, he has crossed all limits.”  He added that his daughter had done nothing wrong by shaking hands with her uncle as it is a customary greeting.

Rasheeda’s father claimed that the field officer of the Madadgar National Helpline, Bushra Syed, had contacted him and asked him to submit an application to her office to process the case.

Bushra Syed told The Express Tribune that the incident took place in Kashmore and the complaint would have to be filed with the area police. She added that she had asked Umair Ali to send an application to the office and that she would forward it to SSP Kashmore to take legal action.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2014.