KARACHI, Aug 31: An alleged member of the so-called jirga, which was held in connection with the Ayub Goth rape case, was sent to jail on Tuesday for his involvement in a murder case.
Hussain Bux Chandio was re-arrested in Larkana after his release on court orders last week after the court found no charges against him and another jirga member Moharram Chandio.
Hussain Bux and Moharram Chandio were picked up for holding a jirga and deciding a congizable offence in an out of court settlement against the will of the rape victim. The police have put a murder charge on Hussain Bux and produced him before a court.
In the remand papers, the police mentioned that Moharram Chandio was wanted in various cases, including FIRs 50/03, 222/04, 191/05 and others. Most of the cases registered against Moharram Chandio related to land grabbing in Sachal police limits.
The rape victim Mariam Bano, in her early 30s, was allegedly raped by five men, including Asmatullah Abro and Yunus Sial. She was kidnapped on July 7 near her home in Ayub Goth by the alleged rapists. She and her husband Abdur Rasheed were compelled to settle the issue in a jirga and avoid legal proceedings. However, Mohammad Hussain, the brother of the rape victim, came to know about the incident after a month and got a case registered at Mubina Town police station on Aug 14.
Hussain Bux, in a statement given to investigators, said the members of the jirga included Moharram Ali Chandio, Mohammad Hashim, Bashir Ahmed, Khalid Memon, Maula Bux Memon, Mohammad Qasim Burro, Yusuf Burro and Abdullah Abro.
Abdullah Abro is the father of one of the alleged rapists, Asmatallah, who refused to accept the allegation on his son, but he was willing to pay the fine of Rs150,000 which had been imposed by the jirga. The fine was imposed by the jirga on a condition that the rape victim would pardon the alleged rapists. However, Mariam Bano objected to the decision and told her brother about the whole episode.
