KARACHI: At least two men have been arrested in South Pakistan after a woman in her 20’s was found tortured to death along a main highway last week following a row with her husband’s family involving the tribal tradition of ‘watta satta’ or bride exchange, a senior police official told Arab News on Saturday.
The tradition is a form of marriage involving an arranged, reciprocal exchange of spouses between two families, where a pair usually consisting of a brother and sister are married from one family to another pair from another family-- usually a bride for a bride.
A first information report (FIR) was lodged against the woman’s husband, his brother and another relative by the deceased’s father on the insistence of police.
“We arrested the woman’s husband and his brother who confessed to torturing her but said she was at her father’s home [at the time of death]. Due to this and the suspicious behavior of the father, we are also investigating him,” Jamshoro’s senior superintendent of police, Amjad Sheikh, told Arab News.
The deceased, identified as Waziran Chachar, was married five years ago with the understanding that her brother would eventually be married to her husband’s sister, a custom built on a common promise in Pakistan’s rural areas.
“When Waziran’s father demanded their girl for his son, the family refused,” a local police officer, Rasool Bux Shaikh, told Arab News.
Following the refusal, a row broke out between the families, and two weeks ago Waziran’s father brought her to his home, threatening divorce until a jirga-- an assembly of local elders and leaders-- convinced him to let her go back to her husband’s home.
Waziran’s body was found in the early hours of the morning on June 28 along the Indus highway near the village of Wada Chhachar in Sindh where she lived, Shaikh said.
The custom of Watta Satta, which translates to ‘give and take,’ has long been criticized by human rights organizations due to its underlying threat of retaliation and violence meted out to women as punishments in case of family rows.
According to the results of an initial post-mortem report, Waziran was killed by a blunt weapon. The police are waiting on more conclusive results.
“This can be a car, stone or any other object which is not sharp. We are investigating the case, and digital forensics (of mobile phones) and a detailed post-mortem report will determine who has killed the woman and how,” SSP Sheikh said.
Pakistani woman tortured to death over bride-exchange row in Sindh province
https://arab.news/vnxaa
Pakistani woman tortured to death over bride-exchange row in Sindh province
- Deceased’s husband and brother-in-law are in police custody
- Rural tradition of ‘Watta Satta’ usually translates into ‘a bride for a bride’
Pakistan stocks close at record high over current account surplus, falling bond yields
- KSE-100 index gains 1,646.79 points or 0.97% to close at new high of 171,960.64 points
- Pakistan’s central bank posted a current account surplus of $100 million in November
KARACHI: Pakistani stocks closed at an all-time high of 171,960.4 points on Thursday, with financial analysts attributing the surge to increasing investor confidence stemming from a current account surplus reported in November and a drop in government bond yields.
The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 1,646.79 points or 0.97% to close at an all-time high of 171,960.64 points on Thursday. The previous day, Pakistani stocks surged to 170,313.85 points at close of business.
Ahsan Mehanti, chief executive officer at Arif Habib Commodities, said the optimistic mood at the stock exchange was fueled by the $100 million current account surplus reported by the central bank in November.
“Speculations ahead of year-end close and fall in government bond yields up to 70 basis points after the SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) policy easing played the catalyst role in bullish activity at PSX,” Mehanti told Arab News.
The surplus was a welcome development for Islamabad as Pakistan’s central bank reported a $291 million deficit in October.
Topline Securities, a Pakistani brokerage firm, said in its daily market review that strong buying by local funds followed a drop in Pakistan Investment Bond (PIB) yields, which boosted investor confidence.
PIB yields are the returns on bonds or government-backed securities that pay fixed semi-annual interest, with rates influenced by market demand and SBP auctions.
“Strength in ENGRO (Engro Corporation), FFC (Fauji Fertilizer Company), UBL (United Bank Limited), LUCK (Lucky Cement) and BAHL (Bank AL Habib) underpinned positive momentum, collectively contributing 1,504 points to the index,” the brokerage firm wrote on X.
“This upside was partly offset by declines in PIOC (Pakistan International Oil Company), DHPL (D.H. Corporation Limited) and MLCF (Millat Tractor Limited), which together subtracted 176 points.”
The sustained rise in equities comes amid improving liquidity conditions and continued investor participation, with market participants focusing on corporate earnings, sector-specific developments and broader macroeconomic signals.
Earlier on Monday, Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy interest rate by 50 basis points to 10.5%, a move that surprised analysts and followed four consecutive policy meetings where rates were held unchanged.
The cut came despite an International Monetary Fund staff report earlier this month cautioning against premature monetary easing.
Inflation eased to 6.1% in November, remaining within the SBP’s target band, though analysts have warned that price pressures could resurface later in the fiscal year as base effects fade and food and transport costs remain volatile.
