SUKKUR: A jirga (tribal court) held in Magsi village near Tangwani town of Kandhkot-Kashmore district on Tuesday imposed a fine of Rs1 million on a man for having relations with a woman belonging to the Bakhrani community.

Several hundred people from the Bakhrani and Banglani communities of the area attended the proceedings of the case against Barkat Banglani, who was declared ‘karo’ under the custom of ‘karo kari’ (under which the guilty is liable to be killed preferably by close relatives of the ‘convict’).

After hearing the two sides, Sarwar Bakhrani and Jehangir Banglani, who jointly presided over the jirga, found Barkat Banglani guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of Rs1m to escape the prescribed punishment under the karo kari ‘custom’.

Accepting the ruling, the ‘guilty’ side paid an amount of Rs100,000 to the aggrieved side on the spot and promised to pay off the remaining fine in three instalments within the next three months.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2017