MINGORA: Police on Thursday arrested 13 members of a jirga for giving an eight-year-old girl in swara to resolve a family dispute at Gornai area of Bahrain tehsil of Swat district.

According to Mohammad Tariq, an official of Bahrain police station, the jirga members gathered at Gornai village of Bahrain tehsil and decided to give an eight-year-old girl to a minor boy of the same age to settle their longstanding family dispute.

Following a tip-off the police reached the spot of the jirga and arrested all the 13 people who mutually agreed to give the girl ‘in marriage’ to a male member of the rival family.

“The jirga members include elders from both the families and the nikahkhawn. We have registered an FIR against all the 13 people,” said Mr Tariq.

According to local sources the dispute started between the two families since a daughter of one Darya Khan eloped with Abdullah ,who is the girl’s brother. “On the request of both the families, the jirga decided to settle their dispute so Abdullah’a sister was given in marriage to the rival family,” said Inamullah, a local resident of Gurnai.

The custom of swara is practiced in the remote areas of upper Swat where majority of people are unaware of the laws against it.

Tabassum Adnan, a women rights activist, said that there was a need for creating awareness among the people to stop the practice of swara.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2016