BUNER: The Buner police claimed on Saturday to have rescued a five-year-old girl from falling prey to the menace of swara custom and arrested 13 people, including the jirga members and the person who solemnised the marriage.

According to information shared with the media via social media site Whatsapp, the Nagrai police came to know that two families of Chandan Banda area were settling a family feud by giving a five-year-old girl in swara to a 15-year-old boy of the same village during a jirga.

Nagrai police station SHO Bakht Zareen Shah along with a police party raided the gathering and arrested 13 accused persons, including the prayer leader, who was conducting the nikah, under sections 310A and 39 of the Child Protection Act, 2010.

Those arrested included Wazir Ali (father of the girl), Said Laiq, Zartaj, Qasim Khan, Wakeel, Bakht Zameen, Ashtar Khan, Tanoosh Khan, Riaz Khan, Bakht Sultan, Amir Mohammad, Amrez Khan and Molvi Zahir Said.

SHO Bakht Zareen said that the jirga was held to settle an honour-related dispute between the two families.

After receiving the information, he said that the police raided the venue of the jirga and arrested members of the two families, jirga members and the prayer leader. The police booked the accused under the relevant law and started investigation, the SHO added.

Meanwhile, Buner District Police Officer Mohammad Irshad Khan told mediapersons that giving small children in swara to settle family feuds was a crime and that the police would act according to the law to protect children from such an ugly custom.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2018