ISLAMABAD: Ghulam Rasool Bhutto and his wife Zarina Bhutto, a newly-married couple hailing from District Ghotki of Sindh are facing life threats because they married from their own choice and refused to obey the Panchayat’s decision.
They fled to Islamabad from their hometown in March this year after the panchayat in Ghotki decided to murder the couple because of their free will marriage.
“My father decided to give my hand to a 60-year old man but I refused to obey his orders. Now I have been facing life threats,” 20-year-old Zarina Bhutto told Pakistan Today.
Reliving her traumatic ordeal, Zarina said that in her native town it is a crime if any girl does not marry in compliance to her parents’ wishes as they have the final decision in the matter. However, she exercised her rights and married Ghulam Rasool Bhutto; a man she preferred to marry instead of an elderly man in whom her parents were interested in exchange for a financial gain.
The two have been facing a tough time first as they have been on the move since they married in 2016.
After their marriage, the girl’s family lodged a kidnapping case against Ghulam Rasool. The couple appeared in court where Zarina gave a statement and they subsequently got some relief. However, the panchayat’s decision to hunt and murder them forced the couple to move halfway across the country in hopes to be saved by the government.
The panchayat has also issued an order saying that that the couple will not be murdered on the conditions that the girl comes back voluntary and her husband pays five lakhs, along with his younger sister who will be handed over to the panchayat for whatever punishment they deem necessary in order to compensate for their lost honour.
“Not a single person who was a part of this Panchayat was arrested,” said the couple.
According to the couple, conservative, social, cultural morals and old taboos in Ghokti prevail with full force.
They further informed this scribe that if Zarina is made to marry the elderly man, her family will be rewarded with a cash sum of a few lakhs and her brother will be gifted with a young girl for marriage by the family of the 60-year old. “How it was possible for me to spend life with such an old man just for a few rupees?” asked Zarina, adding that Islam does neither allow this, nor the killing.
Ghulam Rasool said that he used to have a small shop in Ghokti which was destroyed by the panchayat as revenge. “Even my land has been confiscated by them. My father was forced to move to Punjab,” he mourned.
When asked how he managed his expenditures, he replied that his father works hard and supports the couple.
The husband and wife complained that practically no steps that can be taken against the heinous crime of ‘honour killing’ in Pakistan. “It is unfortunate that murderers are roaming freely in the country and the police protect them,” the couple remarked.
They said that young people have many hopes from Bilawal Bhutto but no steps have been taken by him in this regard.
“We will not go back at any cost because they will murder us,” said the couple and urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to take notice of the issue.
“CJP Saqib Nisar sahib is very popular and he takes notice of every issue in the country. Honour killing is a big issue in the country and the CJP should take notice of this.
