June 24, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 08, 1428

HATAN DARA (Upper Dir), June 23: Six people involved in giving away an under-age girl for settling a blood feud have been arrested on the orders of a district and sessions judge. The girl, who was given away following a jirga decision, has also been recovered.

Two other people, involved in another case of Swara, were also taken in custody but were later released on bail until June 27. They were directed to appear before the court on that date with other members of the jirga.

Fathers of two girls had moved separate applications before the district and sessions judge, Anwar Ali, requesting that the jirga decisions be declared illegal. They also called for action against people involved in such jirga decisions.

Both the cases took place in the Hatan Dara area of the Upper Dir district. One of the cases occurred two years ago in which a jirga had handed over a five-year-old girl (now seven) in marriage for settling a blood feud.

In the second case a seven-year-old girl was handed over in Swara to settle a land dispute. The girl’s father had taken his daughter away to avoid her being handed over to his rival’s family.

Mohammad Rashid and Akhtar Munir appeared on behalf of the two applicants and termed the custom cruel, adding that there was no room under the law for such traditions.

The accused who were sent to prison were: Sabdar Mula, Raham Gul, Fazl Subhan, Bacha Gul, Hakim Wali and Jaafar. The court would again take up the case for hearing on June 27.

According to Mohammad Zair, his five-year-old daughter was ‘married off’ to one Sher Zada, a four-year-old boy, to settle a blood feud, adding that he had also been made to pay a fine of Rs160,000.

He said that his brother, Jaafar, had killed Naseeb Gul and he had nothing to do with the murder. But his little girl was handed over in Swara just because he was poor and powerless.

“He (Jaafar) also had daughters but he chose to scarify my under-age daughter because he knew that I could not resist him because of my poverty,” he stated, adding: “I cannot accept the marriage between the two under-age children … my own innocent daughter is too young to know the meaning of marriage … it was entirely done against my will.” The girl’s father was so poor that he was unable to recover his daughter or file a case for two years.

Crouched in fear and teary-eyed, the little girl spoke haltingly about the agony she suffered during the last two years.

The applicant stated that the jirga had taken the decision on April 28, 2005, while completely disregarding the ages of the two children. Jaafar is also among the six people arrested.

In the second case, a jirga decided to wed Shahzullah Khan’s daughter, aged 7, to a four-year-old son of Naseeb in Swara to settle a land dispute. According to Shahzullah, the jirga’s decision was implemented by force as his hands and feet were tied up.

He said that he had been forced to sign blank papers. “The so-called jirga was about to take my daughter to Naseeb’s house but I fled from there and took her to my in-laws’ house. However, I had to flee from there too because of the (constant) threat to my life,” he said.