LAYYAH, Aug 26: A nine-member panchayat has ordered an influential man to pay Rs100,000 as compensation to a cobbler for trying to rape his wife at Chak 173-TDA, some 40kms from here.

The panchayat, headed by Haji Iqbal, ordered Ghulam Hussain to pay the compensation amount to cobbler Haq Nawaz within 25 days and also barred him from taking any legal action in this respect.

Muhammad Bakhsh, brother of Haq Nawaz, and his son Shaukat, told Dawn that they belonged to a poor family and the local panchayat had announced the compensation money only to protect the influential man for taking legal action against him.

Reports said that the wife of cobbler was alone in her house when Ghulam Hussain came there and tried to rape her. On raising an alarm, her husband’s brother Muhammad Bukhsh, who lives in the neighbourhood, rushed to the spot, but Ghulam Hussain managed to escape from the scene.

Residents Barkat Khan, Gul Sher, Mazhar and Nasir demanded legal action against the accused and also condemned the panchayat for barring the poor cobbler from his right to take legal action against the accused.

Panchayat head Haji Iqbal and two of its members Muhammad Akbar and Akram said that Haq Nawaz had not been barred from taking legal action against Ghulam Hussain.