In a deeply disturbing incident in the Talokar area of Dera Ismail Khan, a local panchayat (village council) forced the eight-year-old sister of an accused rapist to marry the 12-year-old boy he allegedly assaulted, as a form of "justice."
According to a report registered at Gomal University Police Station by SHO Asghar Khan under Sections 310-A, 376, and 53 of the Pakistan Penal Code, two suspects had drugged and sexually assaulted the minor boy 9 to 10 days earlier.
In response, a jirga comprising four local elders—Amanullah (son of Allah Diywaya), Allah Diywaya (son of Ahmed), Zakariya (son of Amin), and Hashim (son of Abdul Rehman), all residents of Taluqar—met on Thursday at Amanullah’s hujra (guesthouse) to settle the matter.
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In a shocking decision, the jirga resolved that Rizwan’s eight-year-old sister, Maqaddas Bibi, be handed over in "wani" (a tribal custom in which girls are married off to settle disputes) to the victim, Kashif. The so-called marriage was solemnized by Maulvi Rehmatullah (son of Azam), a local imam from the Talokar mosque.
Sources confirmed that the police have registered a case not only against the four panchayat members but also against the cleric who conducted the unlawful nikah. Investigations are ongoing, and authorities say further arrests are expected.
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