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June 11, 2006
Pakistan: Minister Accused Of Assisting Muslim Forced Marriage
We have described forced marriages in Pakistan and also in Europe. Often in Pakistan forced marriages of girls are given cultural significance when girls are given away in marriage as part of a "compensation package". This type of marriage was officially outlawed, along with honor killing, at the end of 2004, coming into force at the start of last year. In North-West Frontier Province the term for a compensation marriage is "swara", and in Punjab it is called vani.
In today's edition of Dawn, a minister from the government of the southeastern province of Sindh has been accused of participating at a jirga, or Muslim village council, at which a young girl was ordered to be given away in a compensatory forced marriage.
Dr Sohrab Sarki, Sindh Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, is said to have attended this jirga on June 7 in the village of Garhi Hassan Sarki, near Sukkur. He has denied the accusations, saying that he was a "liberal and educated politician" who would not allow such a court in his village.
However, the Taluka Nazim (head of a government sub-district) for the area, along with others, have maintained that the jirga was held at the residence of the minister's elder brother, Sardar Zulfiqar Sarki.
Akbar Banglani, the Taluka Nazim for Thull sub-district had been presiding over the jirga. Banglami had earlier confirmed that the meeting took place but he said it was not a jirga, but a meeting to reconcile two rival groups.
Meanwhile, according to the Pakistan Daily Times, a man stabbed his niece in an apparent attempted honor killing. The incident took place in Allama Iqbal Town, near Lahore.
The niece, an eighteen year old girl called Mugadas, apparently had an affair with her neighbour. Her uncle Razaque earlier today spoke to the girl about the issue, and then stabbed her. Mugadas was taken by her relatives to the nearest hospital, where she is said to be in a critical condition.
And another report from Dawn states that this year, the unit set up to deal with crimes against women, the Gender Crime Cell in Islamabad, the capital, has so far handled 52 cases. These cases included murder, honour killings and honor attacks, gang-rape, abduction, and vani. The unit was set up on April 1 this year, so the figures relate to the past two months.
UPDATE: 12 June: The Daily Times reports that the 18 year old from Allama Iqbal Town, near Lahore, has died in Jinnah Hospital. The report says her name was Musarrat, and she was not attacked by her uncle with a knife. He had employed an axe to mutilate her.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at June 11, 2006 10:51 PM
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