MANSEHRA: A police official in Upper Kohistan district has gone into hiding as a jirga orders his and a schoolgirl’s killing over what it called an “illicit relationship.”

The girl’s elders ordered family members to kill her and the police constable during a meeting in the Baffa-Doraha area here, according to his brother and local MPA, Fazl Haq.

“The 10th grader’s family suspects that she has an affair with the policeman, and therefore, it has issued orders for their assassination under the local chor custom for bringing dishonour on it,” he told Dawn on Friday.

The lawmaker also claimed that the police sent the girl to Darul Aman (the government-run shelter home) for her protection after seizing her in the Bisham area of Shangla district, as her family was taking her to Upper Kohistan to follow the jirga’s orders.

He said that efforts were under way to “sort out the issue amicably.”

“We’re in the process of settling the matter in line with the local traditions to protect both lives. A jirga will go to the girl’s elders soon for reconciliation,” he said.

Mr Haq insisted that his and the girl’s families had been living on a street in the College Doraha area for many years and knew each other well.

He added that the girl’s mother wanted to marry the 17-year-old off to his brother, angering the family’s elders.

The lawmaker said that his brother had gone into hiding, fearing for his life, while the police had held the girl’s father and two other family members in light of her statement.

SNOW REMOVAL: Adviser to the chief minister for tourism Zahid Chanzeb on Friday said he had ordered the deputy commissioner to clear snow from the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road without delay for the resumption of tourism activities in the Kaghan Valley.

“This important [MNJ] artery should immediately be freed from snow so that tourist activities could be restored in the Kaghan Valley,” he told reporters here.

He also said the damages caused by avalanches on the Lake Road should be assessed to start the rehabilitation exercise.

Mr Chanzeb said the deputy commissioner had submitted a report about hotels and other buildings damaged or heavy snowfall and avalanches along the MNJ Road that linked Naran, the commercial hub of Kaghan Valley, with Saiful Muluk Lake.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2024