SSPs, SHOs to be held responsible for karo-kari cases

SHC Larkana bench issues orders on 100 petitions filed by women demanding protection

SUKKUR:

In a historical verdict last week, the Sindh High Court's (SHC) Larkana bench made it clear that in the districts where murder is committed on the pretext of karo-kari or jirgas are held to declare a man or woman as karo or kari, the respective SSP and SHO will be held responsible.

A single bench of the SHC, Larkana, headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, issued these orders on 100 constitutional petitions filed by women through their lawyers, demanding protection as their lives were in danger due to their relatives or influential persons. These cases mostly belonged to Larkana, Qamber-Shahdadkot, Kashmore-Kandhkot, Jacobabad and Shikarpur, in which men and women were declared as karos and karis. Besides, some cases of bartering girls through jirgas were also presented before the court.





The lawyers told the court that the police fail to implement court orders due to which the couples who marry out of freewill are killed and their parents are forced out of the villages. They also stated that women are not even safe in the Darul Amman, as three women were taken out of Larkana Darul Amman one-and-a-half years ago and nobody knows their whereabouts. They added that the women and girls of Larkana division in particular have been deprived of the right to education and employment. Women and girls are put to death for two or three acres of land and then they are buried without performing last rites, they claimed. The lawyers added that the police are not performing their duty properly, due to which more than 60,000 absconders are at large throughout the division and their number is constantly rising.

The bench, after hearing the petitions, observed that despite clear orders of the apex court barring police officers from obeying illegal orders of the chief ministers, ministers and advisors, the police are doing otherwise. In its brief verdict, the court ordered the police to protect the couples who marry out of freewill and the women who come to the police for protection against domestic torture. The court made it clear that if any person is killed on the pretext of karo-kari or a jirga is held to resolve karo-kari disputes, the SSP of the district and the SHO of the area will be held responsible.



When contacted, Jacobabad SSP Sajid Khokhar said that the police are already taking drastic action against such persons. "The police have arrested some persons for their involvement in holding a jirga to resolve karo-kari disputes in Bahoo Khoso police limits and an FIR has been registered against them," he said. "In most karo-kari cases, it is the close relatives of the deceased persons who register FIRs, but after the lapse of some days, they withdraw the case, saying that the matter has been resolved. But now I have ordered to register FIRs of such cases on behalf of the state through the SHO as I feel this is the only way to eliminate this menace."

Khokhar said it is quite unfortunate that this custom still prevails. He was of the view that besides taking legal action, proper counselling of the rural population is required to combat the menace. "We are planning to launch awareness campaigns to eliminate this social evil from our society once and for all," he said.



Similarly, Larkana SSP Kamran Nawaz said that most of the rural population is unlettered and, therefore, knows nothing about the values of society. As far as holding the SSP and SHO responsible for the crime, he said that SHOs are responsible for all the crimes taking place in their jurisdiction. As far as the responsibility of the SSP is concerned, he said that he has established a cell to monitor such cases, besides setting up a network of informers to let the police know about such incidents beforehand . "Not only the police, it is the responsibility of people belonging to all walks of life to create awareness among the people, especially the rural population, to bring an end to this custom," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th, 2015.