JACOBABAD, Nov 18: Three women who had been given in marriage when they were minors by a jirga several years ago as compensation for a dispute over honour-killing in Ghouspur have refused to leave their parents’ home and appealed to Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice.

Ms Shahina, Ms Sandal and Ms Sakina reached the press club on Tuesday and told journalists while carrying the holy book in their hands that they would never accept the dictates of jirga and would rather commit suicide.

The girls’ parents said that they feared the rival party would treat them in a harsh and inhuman manner if they were married into them. The parents said that the influential people were mounting pressure on them to give their three daughters in marriage and threaten to lodge an FIR on the pretext of an old murder.

Now the girls had grown up and they were not willing to accept a decision taken about them several years ago, they said. The girls belong to Ogahi tribe of Ghouspur, Kandhkot.

The girls’ father said that a girl Ms Shahina who had been given in marriage to their group had to face torture at the hands of her husband who often deprived him of two times meal.

He said that some influential people of the area were issuing them death threats and compelling them to migrate from the area.

Kashmore DPO said the “reparation of girls” in marriage by a jirga was banned and illegal and he would arrest people involved in this act.

The girls arrived at the DPO’s office on Tuesday and sought protection.

They told the DPO that they did not want to marry because when the jirga gave its decision they were only three and four years old. The jirga-holder, too, was dead by now, they said.

DPO Mohammad Younis Chandio ordered the SHO of Ghouspur to protect the girls and lodge an FIR against jirga-holders.

Opinion

Editorial

Under siege
Updated 03 May, 2024

Under siege

Whether through direct censorship, withholding advertising, harassment or violence, the press in Pakistan navigates a hazardous terrain.
Meddlesome ways
03 May, 2024

Meddlesome ways

AFTER this week’s proceedings in the so-called ‘meddling case’, it appears that the majority of judges...
Mass transit mess
03 May, 2024

Mass transit mess

THAT Karachi — one of the world’s largest megacities — does not have a mass transit system worth the name is ...
Punishing evaders
02 May, 2024

Punishing evaders

THE FBR’s decision to block mobile phone connections of more than half a million individuals who did not file...
Engaging Riyadh
Updated 02 May, 2024

Engaging Riyadh

It must be stressed that to pull in maximum foreign investment, a climate of domestic political stability is crucial.
Freedom to question
02 May, 2024

Freedom to question

WITH frequently suspended freedoms, increasing violence and few to speak out for the oppressed, it is unlikely that...