Girls forcibly ‘married’ at panchayat orders

BAHAWALPUR:

Police on Sunday arrested two men for marrying underage girls. A village council in Sadiqabad had earlier declared an eight-year-old and a six-year-old girl vani and forced them into ‘marriages’ to settle a dispute. The mother of the girls, Zameeran, has lodged a complaint with Kot Sabzal police. Zameeran said she was a resident of Chak 176-P Thaid near Sadiqabad.

“My brother Manzoor Ahmad married Fatima, sister of Hakeem* and Ghafoor* without the consent of her parents. Hakeem and Ghafoor summoned a meeting of the village council. Panchayat members, Gulabdin, Muhammad Khan, Noor Khan and Bhooral Khan declared my daughters Saira*, 8, Faiza*, 6, vani and forced them into marriage with Hakeem and Ghafoor.

The ‘nikah’ was solemnised by Maulvi Suleman,” she told the police. Kot Sabzal Station House Officer (SHO) told The Express Tribune that they had registered an FIR on Zameeran’s complaint.

“We have arrested Hakeem and Ghafoor. The investigation is underway,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2014.