DERA GHAZI KHAN: A youth was allegedly forced by a local jirga to undergo an ancient life-threatening tribal ritual called Aas Aaf to prove his innocence after being accused of having relations with a married woman in Koh-i-Suleman area in the jurisdiction of Zain Border Military Police (BMP).

The victim, Jamal Buzdar, son of Rahim Buzdar, stated during a protest and a media briefing that he was falsely accused of having relations with the wife of one Muhammad Sadiq and was produced in a tribal jirga, comprising six members — Yusuf, Syed Khan, Ahmed Niazi, Abid, Rab Nawaz and Jamal.

He said the jirga gave him three options: to leave the area for good, be murdered, or prove his innocence through the Aas Aaf ritual, which required him to remain underwater for a specific duration without any diving equipment.

Buzdar said that despite his protest against the decision, the jirga forced him to jump into a deep pond and remain underwater. He said that he had been told that if he returned to the water surface before the specific duration, he would be deemed guilty.

He said that he somehow managed to remain underwater for the required duration and survived the brutal tribal ritual.

Buzdar appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, as well as the commissioner and deputy commissioner of DG Khan, to take strict legal action against the jirga members.

He has also lodged a complaint with the Zain police station against the suspects.

BMP Commandant Asad Chandia told Dawn that a case has been registered against the jirga members on the victim’s complaint under sections 325, 365, 452, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

TWO DIE: Two private sanitary workers died of suffocation while cleaning manholes of a private housing society in Dera Ghazi Khan.

Rescue 1122 Control Room received an emergency call about two men falling unconscious while cleaning a sewer. The rescuers were told that two men, identified as Muhammad Asif (26), son of Wahid Bakhsh, and Sabir Hussain (30), son of Basheer Ahmad, had fallen in the sewer line during the cleaning operation.

A rescue operation was launched under the supervision of the district emergency officer.

Both victims were retrieved from the sewer line and given CPR; however, they were declared dead. Their bodies were shifted to the Allama Iqbal Teaching Hospital and later handed over to their families.

Dera Ghazi Khan Assistant Commissioner Taimoor said the deaths were the result of negligence and the administration was investigating the matter to fix responsibility.

He said the incident occurred in the private housing scheme that had hired private sanitary workers for cleaning its manholes.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2025