THIS is apropos the editorial ‘Jirga justice’ (Dec 6). Undoubtedly, the jirga system is a menace and it has often targeted innocent women just to settle old scores.

However, this is an established tradition that if a woman is stoned to death on the allegation of being a kari (adulteress), her funeral prayers are not performed.

But in the case of the minor girl, Gul Sama, evidence suggests that her funeral prayer was offered and she was buried as an innocent girl by offering all religious rituals.

Although her stoning to death story spread mysteriously like wildfire and it made headlines in national and international newspapers too, the news did not provide the details such as with whom she had alleged relations.

More importantly, the final postmortem report will reveal that whether she was really stoned to death. This unsubstantiated news has brought negative publicity for the country and pain for her parents.

Although in this digital age it is hard to stop the spread of fake news, this news of stoning to death of a girl should have been reported only after having evidence of the incident, confirmation and its authenticity.

We must understand that such unconfirmed news can lead to humiliation and mental agony for parents.

Inayatullah Rustamani
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2019