MIANWALI, Aug 9: Yet another man has sacrificed his minor daughter to keep the word of his late father and oblige his father’s old enemies in Paikhel village, 25 kilometres from here.

As the story goes, Ahmed Khan killed his relative Alam Khan over a minor issue in Paikhel in 1980. Subsequently, he was awarded capital punishment by a sessions court.

To save Ahmed Khan from the gallows, the elders of his family reached an agreement with Alam Khan’s family, under which Ahmed Khan gave Alam Khan’s family Rs100,000 and verbally tied the knot of his minor daughter Nasreen with Alam Khan’s son Shafiullah.

Nasreen and Shafiullah were age fellows, but they were wed in line with the prevailing vani tradition in the area.

After this agreement, Ahmed Khan was forgiven and released from the jail.

When Nasreen grew up, she refused to accept her marriage with Shafiullah because she knew that she had been given to Shafiullah under the vani tradition.

Later, she moved a court for khulla (divorce) and succeeded in dissociating herself from Shafiullah. In the meantime her father died.

After this, Shafiullah’s family went to Nasreen’s brother Fateh Khan and told him to honour his father’s word or be ready to pay the price of his father’s act.

Fateh Khan, who divorced his wife Mehran along with his children Dilawar (2) and Fakhra Naureen (six months old) about 10 years ago, went to his former wife on Aug 2, 2008, snatched his daughter Naureen, now 10, at gunpoint point and wed her with Shafiullah, who is now 30.

Sultan Ahmed Qadri, who leads prayers at a mosque in Darookhel Mohallah,

solemnised Naureen and Shafiullah’s marriage in the presence of three witnesses with the condition that the man would get his wife after two or three years.

Qadri said at the ceremony: “In Islam there is no restriction of age. Even the father (wali) can accept the man on behalf of his minor daughter.”

Later, Fateh Khan took Naureen back to her mother and threatened her with consequences if she informed police about the incident.

On this, disheartened Mehran took her daughter Naureen and son Dilawar with her and jumped into the Thal Canal to commit suicide.

Some officials of the patrol police rescued her and her children and handed them to Paikhel police.

The police later handed Mehran and her children to Iqbal Khan, a cousin of Mehran.