BUNER - Police arrested 13 for allegedly giving out a 4-year-old girl as ‘swara’ in Banda Tangay village of Tehsil Mandanr on Saturday.
Swara is an ugly tradition in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Federally-Administered Tribal Areas and other places, in which girls are offered for marriage to the aggrieved groups while ending enmities.
District Police Officer (DPO) Irshad Khan told this scribe that daughter of Gul Resh Khan had eloped with Asim Khan alias Mosam Khan, resident of Banda Tangay area, after which enmity developed between the two families.
A local Jirga invited Asim and Gul Resh Khan’s daughter to the village for performing their nikah to resolve the dispute. When the couple arrived in the village, the Jirga members solemnised their nikah on the condition that Asim Khan’s 4-year-old sister Salma will be given as ‘swara’ to the son of Gul Resh Khan. Asim Khan was also asked to pay Rs200,000 to Gul Resh Khan.
The DPO said that nikah of Salma was performed with 12-year-old Mujeeb on May 5. He said that the police after receiving information about the incident conducted a raid and arrested 5 accused from both families including Syed Laiq, Wazir-e-Ala, Zar Taj, Qasim Khan and Wakeel. He said that jirga members including Bakht Zameen, Ashtar Khan, Tanosh Khan, Riaz, Bakht Sultan, Amir Khan, Amroz Khan and Nikah Khwan Maulana Zahid Syed were also arrested.
The DPO said that a case had been registered against the accused under sections 310-A and 39 of Child Protection Act 2010. He said that the arrested persons would be presented before the court.
Under section 310-A, a convict can face imprisonment up to 10 years and Rs200,000 fine, while section 39 imposes 3-year imprisonment and Rs100,000 fine on the accused.
The district police officer said that there was no place for such injustice in the society. He said that law would take its course whenever such crime is committed and the culprits would be punished as per the law.