KARACHI: A local court in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province remanded a man into police custody to investigate the killing of his 10-year-old daughter who was allegedly stoned to death earlier this month, police said on Monday.
Ali Bux Rind and three other men were arrested by police in the Dadu district on Saturday for the murder of his daughter, Gul Sama, for “hurting the family honor.”
Rind claims that his daughter’s death was accidental. Police, however, have requested the district and sessions judge to constitute a team to conduct a postmortem so that the real cause of the death can be ascertained.
“We have arrested four people, including the girl’s parents, the prayer leader of a mosque and another man,” Senior Superintendent Police Dr. Farrukh Raza told Arab News on Sunday, adding that investigation was underway to identify other culprits and determine if all these individuals acted on the instruction of a jirga that was reportedly convened by influential political leaders in the area.
Raza said police decided to probe the matter after it was reported that a young girl from the Dadu district had been killed in the name of honor.
“Consequently, Maulvi Mumtaz Ali Laghari, who led the girl’s funeral prayer, was located and brought to the police station for questioning,” the official said, adding that the detained cleric helped the police trace the whereabouts of the girl’s parents.
“The parents of the girl claimed it was an accidental death. However, given the sensitivity of the matter, they were taken into custody for further investigation and brought to the police station in Wahi Pandhi District Dadu,” he continued, adding that a criminal case has been registered.
According to the police, Gul Sama died on Nov. 21 or 22.
“An impartial investigation is underway to examine different facets of the incident. We are also investigating if a jirga was involved in all of this,” Raza said.
Meanwhile, the first information report (FIR), a copy of which was shared with Arab News, says that Rind took the help of his relative, Ali Nawaz, and other unknown individuals to mercilessly stone Gul Sama to death.
Maulvi Mumtaz Leghari, who performed the funeral prayer, and a shopkeeper, Taj Muhammad Rustami, who had sold the family the burial shroud, were also named in the FIR.
“Leghari told us he was approached by the relatives of the girl to perform her funeral prayer and arrange the coffin,” Deputy Superintendent Police Pir Bux Chandio told Arab News. “He also claimed that he had asked if the girl was an adult, adding that the people told him she was about eight to 10 years old.”
According to the Honor-Based Violence Awareness Network (HBVAN), almost one-fifth of 5,000 “honor killings” around the globe occur in Pakistan. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in 2017 listed 460 cases of reported “honor killings” in which about 376 victims were female.
The case in Sindh resulted in a public outcry. While it remains unclear how the child could “harm” her family’s dignity, calls are mounting on religious scholars to denounce honor killings.
“Religion strongly prohibits and condemns such acts,” said Maulana Mahmud Hasan, a Karachi-based religious scholar. Religious scholars at mosques should use their platform to raise awareness against honor killings and the government should take action to phase out the practice, he told Arab News on Monday.
“The stoning to death of the girl shows that the society still practices the evil pre-Islamic custom. The stoning of a child is horrible and intolerable, and warrants strict action against the culprits,” he said.