Jirga orders youth’s killing for marrying ‘Syed Zadi’ in Balakot

BALAKOT: A local jirga in the Paras area of Balakot has issued a decree ordering the killing of a young man, Tauseef, after he married Mamoona Bibi, a girl of his choice, reportedly without the consent of her family.

According to sources, Mamoona Bibi’s relatives were enraged after she eloped with Tauseef, who belongs to the Gujjar caste, while she herself is a Syed Zadi, considered part of a noble lineage in the local context.

In response, her family convened a private jirga and issued a self-styled decree calling for the youth’s killing. The jirga also pressured Tauseef’s father into signing a written declaration publicly disowning his son and declaring that the family would forgive his murder if it occurred.

A copy of the declaration, seen by HUM News English, shows that Tauseef’s father “admitted” his son had violated “Islamic principles” by marrying a girl of Syed caste, claiming that a nikah (marriage) between a Syed Zadi and a non-Syed was invalid.

The jirga members allegedly wrote in the agreement that if Tauseef and Maimoona were ever seen together, they should be “eliminated from this world.”

To secure the father’s signature of the declaration, a fabricated nikahnama (marriage certificate) was presented at the Paras Police Station stating that Maimoona was already married. This led to the registration of an FIR by the girl’s relatives against the boy.

According to the FIR, Maimoona’s father, Anwar Hussain, told the police that his daughter had already married two years ago to a young man named Rashid and only the formal departure (rukhsati) was pending.

He claimed that Tauseef abducted her daughter with the intent of committing zina, and that action should be taken against him.

Tauseef’s father and brother were also arrested after the registration of the FIR, and were subsequently presented before the court, where they were booked under Section 365B (kidnapping a woman with the intent to compel her to marry or force her into illicit intercourse).

Police are now conducting raids in various places to arrest Tauseef, while Maimoona’s family has allegedly issued clear threats that if the boy was found, he would be shot dead.

With Tauseef’s father and one of his brothers now imprisoned and Maimoona not being allowed to record her statement under Section 164 in court, both have gone into hiding to save their lives.

While speaking to local media from an unknown location, Tauseef said: “What is my father’s fault? What is my brother’s fault? I only got married — I did not commit a crime. We are being threatened with death. Where is the law? The police are acting under pressure from the jirga. We demand protection.”

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Tauseef has appealed to higher authorities to take notice of the situation and take strict action against those responsible for convening the Jirga and issuing their murder order so that no one else falls victim to such cruelty.

Likewise, Maimoona Bibi has said that she will expose the police in registering the fabricated FIR, and demanded legal action against the Paras Police Station House Officer and those who filed the false FIR.

She has also appealed to the local media for help, citing threats to her life, and has requested justice from SP Mansehra, Resham Jahangir.

When contacted, the Paras Police Station House Officer dismissed the allegations levelled by the newly married couple as baseless.

Woman, baby girl killed for ‘honour’ in Mansehra

A similar incident happened last week had caused an uproar on social media when a Syed Zadi identified as Rabia Shah and her infant baby girl were killed for honour in Mansehra. She had married Muhammad Umar in 2022 through a court marriage against her family’s will. The couple’s 16-month-old daughter, Ayeza, was also killed by the attackers.