Jirga fines 10-year-old for affair with married woman
The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) had termed tribal courts illegal in July 2013
KARACHI (Web Desk) – A tribal court (jirga) earlier this week ordered a 10-year-old boy to pay Rs 7 lac after he was found guilty of having sexual relation with a married woman in Bakhrani, a remote village in Sindh.
Under the Pakistan penal code, an adult male having intercourse with an underage girl without wedlock is considered a rape but there is no law for a woman who has extramarital affair with an underage boy. However, a woman can be convicted for sexual assault and unnatural sexual acts.
The convicted boy’s family has paid Rs 50,000 upfront while has requested as many as three months time for the remaining payment.
Umar Tufail, district police chief said that the tribal court’s decision is illegal and the matter is under investigation. The boy was having an affair with a woman of another tribe which created tensions between the two, he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) had termed tribal courts illegal in July 2013. The provincial authorities were ordered by the SCP to take action against the jirgas. Earlier to that, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had declared jirgas as illegal in 2005.
How jirga system still going strong?
The reason for that would be the loose control and poor check and balance of authorities in remote areas of the province. The remotely residing tribes go for a more traditional and easy path to solve an issue and that is a tribal court, headed by the self-claimed “wise” elders who are followed by the tribes having herd mentalities.
What will be the fate of the woman?
Given the fact that adultery is one crime that is rarely prosecuted, it is likely that the woman will evade prosecution. However, the rest just seems to be depending on her man and the illegal jirga.
A couple of years back, a jirga did something that was reminiscent of banned outfit Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan s (TTP) acts. A jirga in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) sentenced four women and two men to death as according to its members, they violated the law of ‘gender segregation’ at weddings. The strangest part is that the evidence shown to the jirga was a video of the wedding that showed men and women dancing and making merry in separate compartments but the video obviously had to be in sequence which led them to believe they were together.
In Dohrki area of Ghotki, a seven-year-old girl Rabail was handed over to a rival faction to settle a land dispute. Prior to that, Rabail’s father was slain on illegal jirga’s decision.
Seven-year-old girl handed over to settle land dispute
In Thul, a landlord sold farmer’s three underage daughters to pay off at least Rs 1.1 million fine ordered by the jirga. The daughters were 14, eight and two years of ages.
Landlord sells farmer s daughters
In Ghotki, an illegal jirga laid its wrath on two innocent girls when their father’s brother entered wedlock of his choice. The daughters were handed over as Wani while the father was fined at least Rs 10 lac.
Underage sisters given as Wani
The Mukhtaran Mai case was also a tragic story of victimisation when in Meerwala a jirga ordered rape of Mai by four men. Mai went on to receive several international accolades and recognitions for her courage to fight conventions but it seems all that is not enough to curb the irregularities of a system.
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11-year-old Rubina married to 60 year-old man in Pishin district of Balochistan after her step brother eloped with his love interest
There has been much hue and cry over the past years by human rights organisations and activists against illegal verdicts but the jirgas seem to be going strong despite SCP’s orders.
Da Khwendo
Tabassum, an activist stood up against patriarchal societal structure in Malakand Division. It did not happen overnight for Tabassum to start an evolution of mind in her community. She was married at a tender age of 13 to a 30 year old man. She had given birth to three children by the time she was 20. She endured torture, physical and mental for all her married life until a point when she stood up against violence and unbearable dominance. However, she paid a price for that. She lost her family, home and her children.
Tabassum now heads a group in her area which is known as ‘Da Khwendo’ and looks after matters like domestic violence, underage marriages and unnecessary patriarchal dominance.
