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 says durable South Asia peace 'impossible' until Kashmir dispute is resolved
- Pakistan marks Feb. 5 as Kashmir Solidarity Day to support right of self-determination for people of disputed Kashmir
- Himalayan territory remains disputed between India and Pakistan, with both claiming it in full but administering only parts
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday that durable peace in South Asia will be impossible to achieve unless the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan is resolved, urging the international community to stop India from its alleged human rights violations in the territory.
Pakistan marks Feb. 5 every year as Kashmir Solidarity Day to support the right of self-determination for the people of Kashmir. The Himalayan territory has remained contested between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, with both claiming it in full but administering only parts of it. Various groups across Pakistan mark the day with rallies and hold seminars on Feb. 5, which is a public holiday, to express their solidarity with the people of Kashmir.
The two countries have fought two out of three wars since 1947 over the disputed territory. On Aug. 5, 2019, India unilaterally revoked the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir that it administers, stripping it of the limited autonomy it enjoyed. The development was followed by Pakistan’s decision to downgrade its diplomatic ties with New Delhi.
"The dangerous military escalation initiated by India in May 2025 serves as a stark reminder that true and durable peace in South Asia remains impossible unless the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir is resolved," Zardari was quoted as saying by his office.
Tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi persist after both countries engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades in May 2025. The conflict stemmed from India's accusations that Pakistan had supported an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that left several tourists dead. Islamabad denied the allegations and called for a credible probe into the matter.
Zardari urged the international community to persuade India to stop its alleged rights violations in Kashmir and allow "unfettered access" to rights observers in the territory.
Pakistan accuses India of jailing Kashmiri leaders, subjecting the media to restrictions in the Himalayan territory and oppressing the people of Kashmir. India has always denied these allegations and accused Islamabad of stoking militancy in the region.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in his message on Kashmir Day, said India's actions on Aug. 5, 2019, were in violation of the UN Charter and also constitute a "blatant disregard" of relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
"Today, on Kashmir Solidarity Day, I assure my Kashmiri brothers and sisters that Pakistan will continue to extend its full moral, diplomatic, and political support to the Kashmiri people’s struggle for freedom until they realize their right to self-determination through the promised free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations," Sharif said.
