Jirga justice: Teenage cousins declared ‘karo’ and ‘kari’

Jirga held in Mubarak Kalhoro village orders the deaths of Babra, 15, and Ahmed, 14

SUKKUR: A jirga held in Mubarak Kalhoro village has allegedly declared two cousins as karo and kari, ordering both of them to be put to death.

The jirga, headed by landlord Riaz Chandio and held within the limits of the Behram police station in Kamber-Shahdadkot district a couple of days ago, ordered the killing of the two teenagers after declaring them as karo and kari.

On Tuesday, Mai Bakhshul, the widow of Ali Gohar Chandio, filed a petition in the Sindh High Court's Larkana circuit court, saying that she lived with her brother Jani Bakhsh alias Kuraro Chandio in Mubarak Chandio village, along with her daughter Babra, 15, and Bakhsh's son Ahmed Nawaz Chandio, 14.

She alleged that the landlord, Riaz, and others held a jirga and declared her daughter and nephew as karo and kari.

Bakhshul explained that her brother's wife died soon after giving birth to Ahmed and she, therefore, had breastfed both Babra and Ahmed, making them 'siblings'. She claimed that Riaz had sent armed men who opened fire on their residence on Monday night but no one was injured. She told the court that the landlord was pressurising them to hand over the two cousins so he could kill them. The court directed the Kamber-Shahdadkot SSP Sarfaraz Nawaz Shaikh and Behram SHO Jameel Ahmed Chandio to provide protection to the women and the children.

A Shahdadkot-based journalist told The Express Tribune that although there was no evidence of a jirga being held, the landlord had asked Bakhshul about the allegations of karo-kari against Babra and Ahmed, telling her to resolve the matter. He added that according to the villagers, there was no truth in the allegations.

SSP Shaikh and SHO Chandio were not available for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2015.