RAHIM YAR KHAN: In a case of Vani, a 10-year-old girl was married to a boy on the orders of a panchayat to ‘settle’ a dispute over elopement and love marriage of a couple in Taranda Muhammad Pannah area, some 99 kilometres from here.

Ghulam Fareed, a resident of Taranda Muhammad Pannah, told journalists that his son Sibtain contracted love marriage with Kiran, daughter of his uncle, Siraj Ahmed, last month and the couple eloped.

Later, Siraj Ahmed arranged a panchayat headed by a local landlord, Malik Sadiq Bhutto, where Muhammad Ayyaz, Badar Munir, Bilal Ahmed, Dilshad Ahmed, Shauket Ali, Bashir Ahmed, Shakeel Ahmed and Saleem Ahmed were also present.

Ghulam Fareed said he was asked to attend the panchayat alone.

He said the panchayat ordered that to compensate for the elopement of the girl, Fareed’s daughter Rida, 10, a student of Class IV, would be married to Siraj’s son Imran.

The panchayat also announced if the girl was divorced or her husband contracted second marriage, Rs1 million “fine” would be imposed on him.

Ghulam Fareed said that after the announcement, the panchayat members forcefully arranged nikkah of Rida with Imran, showing in the marriage deed that she was 18 years old.

He alleged the panchayat members also forced the girl to tell the court that she married of her own free will.

Fareed alleged that the family of Imran subjected his daughter to torture daily, and kept her locked in a room. He said the suspects also hurled life threats at Rida.

He said he could not report the matter to police because the panchayat members were influential and could harm him.

Taranda police SHO Muhammad Asghar claimed the matter was not in his knowledge, saying he would investigate into it.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2016