SIALKOT, June 11: Scores of villagers, including women and children, on Saturday protested against the killing of a girl by dacoits who also plundered cash and valuables worth hundreds of thousands of rupees from several houses at Aara-Shakargarh village in Narowal on Friday night. The protesters demonstrated against high incidence of robberies and dacoities in the district.

They told journalists on Saturday that 12 dacoits came to Aara-Shakargarh village in the evening. The ransacked some houses and beat up women on resistance.

The dacoits also entered landlord Ramzan’s house and held up the inmates. As Ramzan’s daughters — Asiya and Nazia — resisted, the dacoits opened fire on them, killing the former. Nazia suffered grievous injuries.

The girl was laid to rest at her village graveyard amid hundreds of mourners. The injured was admitted to the Shakargarh THQ hospital in critical condition.

The dacoits also stormed into landlord Bashir Ahmad’s house, beat his wife Naziran Bibi with butts of guns due to which her left arm was fractured. They also plundered cash and valuables from the house of lumberdar Iqbal.

The protesters said the Shakargarh police had yet to register a case and urged Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and the Punjab IGP to take a serious notice of the incident.

Indian lawyers: Visiting Indian lawyers and law experts have urged the lawyers of India and Pakistan to play their role in finding solutions to all disputes, including the Kashmir issue.

These views were expressed by All-India Bar Association chairman Adesh B. Agarwal, UP advocate-general Inder Bahtiya, former Allahabad High Court chief justice Wasu Suhaey, Punjab & Hariyana bar association member Pratab Singh and others at a DBA meeting on Saturday.

Earlier, some Indian lawyers also visited their native homes in Sialkot.