PESHAWAR, Jan 6: A tribal notable in Mohmand Agency is set to hand over his minor daughter to his rivals for settling a feud in accordance with the decision of a jirga. Members of Malik Syed Mahmood Jan’s family told Dawn that he had authorised the jirga to take a decision for settling the feud and had accepted the verdict.
Elder brother of the girl, Irfan Mohmand, has requested the chief justice of Pakistan and the NWFP governor to take notice of the issue, saying that his sister might be handed over to the rival family in a couple of days. The girl is about 16 years old and a student of class 9.
The written agreement, a copy of which has been provided to Dawn, states that the daughter of Malik Jan would be married to one Tehseenullah, nephew of Daftar Khan.
“Initially, the agreement contained the word swara but later the jirga members removed it and stated instead that the girl would be married to the nephew of Daftar as the chief justice was hearing cases against the custom,” said the girl’s brother.
He said that under the custom of swara in their area, nikah of the girl was not performed at her parents’ house and she was left at the residence of the rival group. “It is up to the rival family to decide her fate.” He said his sister had shifted to the home of their maternal uncle in Charsadda but their father was influential and he might take her away forcibly.
“My sister has said she will commit suicide if she is handed over to the rival family,” he added.
A feast will be held on Sunday in their village, following which it would be up to the rival family to fix the date for handing over the girl.
Mahmood Jan, his son Iqrar and nephew Anwer Khan, had been charged with the murder of his cousin Amanullah. They suspected that Amanullah had killed a son of Mahmood Jan over a land feud.
