JACOBABAD, Nov 28: Three young girls, who were given in marriage by a jirga to settle a karo-kari related dispute when they were children, have refused to accept the jirga verdict.

As a result, their family is facing tremendous pressure from the rival party and being harassed through implication in false cases and other tactics.

This was said by the father of the girls, Mohammad Hassan, while talking to journalists here on Friday.

He said that his three daughters — Shahina, Sakina and Shahida — were given in marriage by a jirga several years ago as compensation to resolve a dispute over an honour killing incident in Ghouspur near Kandhkot, when the elder one was four-year-old.

Now the girls had grown up and they were not willing to accept the jirga decision and had threatened to commit suicide if they were married against their will, Mr Hassan said.

However, he said, the rival group was pressurising them to arrange the marriages and had declared that they would not allow the girls to marry other men.

Mr Hassan said that Abdul Razzaq Ogahi of the rival group had lodged a murder case against his son Abdul Shakoor, brother Mohammad Ali and relatives Ghulam Ali and Sahib Dino at the Ghouspur police station on October 27.

On November 11, Mr Hassan said, rival group’s Mohammad Yaqoob Ogahi lodged an FIR of a robbery incident against 11 people, including himself and his relatives Mohammad Siddiq, Abdul Wahid, Ubedullah, Budho and Abdul Malik.

He said that three days ago armed members of the rival group attacked their fish farm, beat up people present there and forcibly took away fish. He said that he approached police to lodge an FIR but police refused to do so.

He appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu of the matter and to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to provide protection to the girls and their family.