KHAIRPUR, March 13: Noor Khatoon Shar, member of a local union council, has been tortured and needs to be shifted to a safer place, District Nazim Nafisa Shah said on Thursday.

Ms Shar had contended, in a letter sent to the district Nazim on March 11, that she had been branded a Kari by a Jirga and would be killed after Ashura.

While confirming the press reports over telephone, the district Nazim said that she had held separate meetings with Ms Noor, her father and other members of her family in Thari Mirwah, saying that the councillor’s family was also under immense pressure.

Expressing concern over the torture and psychological pressure, Ms Shah said that the situation might become serious.

Earlier, talking to Dawn from her home, the district Nazim said that after her marriage, Ms Noor had not attended two meetings of the district council, adding that the last time she had met with her was six months ago.

Ms Shah said that providing safety to Ms Noor was her priority, adding that shifting her to a women’s shelter home could not be ruled out in view of her precarious situation.

DPO Capt Tahir Naveed said that Ms Noor had been shifted by the police from the house of her husband, after the DPO had received a facsimile mentioning her name.

He said that police had been deployed outside the house of Ahmed Din Shar, Ms Noor’s father.

The DPO said that no one from Ms Noor’s husband’s side had contacted him so far, adding that she might soon be shifted to a safer place till the settlement of the matter.

The DPO said that no case could be registered on the basis of a facsimile, which did not bear the signature of the woman.

Discounting the gravity of the situation, the father of Ms Noor, who is also the vice president of the local chapter of the People’s Lawyers’ Forum, described the problem as a personal one, saying it was the outcome of some misunderstanding between his daughter and her husband.

Meanwhile People’s Party Parliamentarians’ MPA Humera Alvani has sharply reacted over the incident and urged the home minister and the IGP, Sindh, to intervene in the matter.

According to a statement of Mrs Alvani issued in Karachi, Ms Noor, in her letter sent to Khairpur district Nazim and some Sindhi newspapers, had said that she was to be married to the would-be spouse of her cousins, who had married a Christian man, despite being handed into marriage to the villager in childhood. She said that her stepmother and uncle had conspired to marry her with the spouse of her cousin.

Ms Noor said that when she had come to know about her marriage plan, she had approached Nafeesa Shah for protection.

She accused her parents of confining her and handing over to some persons, who, according to her, had criminally assaulted her and tortured her, including dousing her with acid and taking her nails out.

She said that a Jirga, presided over by Sardar Faqeer Sikandar Shar, had declared her a Kari to be killed after the 10th of Muharram.

She urged the authorities to register an FIR against Ahmed Bakhsh son of Imdad Ali Shar (uncle), Ms Saudi wife of Ahmeduddin Shar, Sharfuddin (the would-be husband) and Liaquat Ali (the would-be brother-in-law), both sons of Hizbullah.