Elopement aftermath: Lives of freewill couple in danger
The lives of a couple who went against their families and tied the knot in a court seem to be in danger.
Arifa Mahar, daughter of Muneer Ahmed Mahar, and Malik Jatoi eloped on August 29 and solemnised nikkah in Multan on September 1. Both were residents of Nauraja, situated near the Pano Aqil district within the limits of the Baiji police.
Their marriage sparked tension between the two families. The elders from both the sides tricked the two by asking them to come back on the promise that they will marry them in a respectable manner. When the couple returned to Nauraja, the girl's family confined them separately.
Jatoi somehow managed to escape and went to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Karachi, and narrated his story to them. He told the commission that he does not know if his wife is alive or not, adding that if she is alive her life is in danger.
Despite repeated attempts, The Express Tribune failed to contact Baiji SHO Qurban Ali Kalwar as his mobile phone was switched off. Pano Aqil DSP Liaqat Ali Abbasi said that he was unaware of any such incident, adding that he would have been informed had any such incident taken place.
Confirming the story, HRCP Sindh chapter assistant coordinator Abdul Hayee said that Jatoi sought the commission's help. "We have written letters to Sindh chief secretary, Sindh IG and Sukkur DIG, informing them about the incident and requesting to take action before it's too late," he said. "However, we do not know whether the girl is alive or not. Besides, Malik Jatoi is also running for his life because he fears that he, too, will be killed by the girl's parents."
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2014.
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sad...it's their own life if they want to marry with each other. What their families are doing is simply inhumane.
I hope the government authorities, starting from this couple, start protecting the peoples constitutional right of free will. This form of abuse has gone long enough and should not be tolerated anymore. A zero tolerance policy should be adopted with extreme prejudice against all those who perpetrate and support this form of civil rights abuse leading to gruesome murders. I wish a happy and prosperous life for both the girl and boy. And may the parents get sent to jail forever.