There has been an alarming increase in incidents of “wani” to settle family, property and other disputes. According to a report, a seven year girl Sabira was made “wani” in an exchange marriage in the jurisdiction of the Battal Police Station. On receiving information, the police arrested the accused.
On the other hand another girl Maryam, daughter of Abdul Qadir who was made “wani” when she was just two years old, and was now a student of the 9th class had refused to accept the decision of the elders and threatened to commit suicide. Following her refusal, the accused tortured her elderly parents and young brothers and sisters and kidnapped the girl. Despite a passage of five days, the courageous girl could not be recovered by the police.
Local people said that the accused Mian Khan, Noor Ghulam, Noor Zaman, Mohammad Jan and Mohammad Khan were relatives and had a lot of influence in the area. Therefore, the police was not moving against them.
The injured parents of the girl were taken to the Shinkiari hospital first and later shifted to the Mansehra hospital where they were provided with medical aid. However, their medical reports were stolen from the hospital record.
According to Mohammad Akram, brother of the girl, his sister was made “wani” when she was just two years old to settle a family dispute. Her nikah was solemnized with ten years old Mohammad Khan. He said they obtained fatwas from several religious scholars that the nikah was against the Shariah as the girl was very young. Meanwhile, Qazi Abdul Qayyum who headed the jirga termed the nikah in accordance with the Shariah.
Akram said that his sister refused to accept the verdict of the jirga, and was therefore kidnapped. He appealed to the parliamentarians for legislating laws against the customs of “wani” and “swara” and to provide justice to the affected family. Akram also requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to look into this serious case of human rights violations of a poor family and requested him to make efforts for the recovery of the missing girl. Station House Officer (SHO) Battal Matloob Shah however said that all the accused, including the father of Maryam who gave her away as “wani” had been arrested and raids were being conducted to recover the kidnapped girl and the other accused. Local people however said that the accused had fled to Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to avoid arrest.
