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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Girl, 10, Married Off To 50-Year-Old As Blood Feud Payment

There are some incredibly wretched customs in tribal Pakistan, like the one whereby blood feuds are resolved through 'vani' or forced child marriages, unless the family has enough money to settle the score. Although illegal in Pakistan, it is still a common practice in the conservative, tribal areas of the country.

Here's a true scenario

Even though he was married, Muhammad Akram decided he fancied Munawaran Bibi, so he kidnapped her (another common custom in Pakistan) and then married her.  So now he had two wives.  Pissed off about the abduction Munawaran's 50-year-old brother Falak Sher demanded vani, so the village court ordered Akram's 10-year-old daughter to be handed over to him in marriage.

The FIR filed by the girl’s uncle reveals that Falak Sher had barged into Akram’s house along with seven other men, including a prayer-leader from a local mosque, and performed a forced nuptial ritual in the presence of Akram’s first wife.
It appears the child managed to run away, back to her parents. But according to villagers, the police have been reluctant to do anything about the nine people that the uncle file a complaint against, including Sher, the village 'court' and the prayer leader.

She can thank her stupid dad for her predicament.

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