Home / News / Urgent Appeals / PAKISTAN: A couple is missing after their arrest by policemen – the 70-year-old father of the bride is demanding a girl from the groom's family in compensation

PAKISTAN: A couple is missing after their arrest by policemen – the 70-year-old father of the bride is demanding a girl from the groom's family in compensation

February 21, 2011

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAC-038-2011

 

21 February 2011
---------------------------------------------------------------------
PAKISTAN: A couple is missing after their arrest by policemen – the 70-year-old father of the bride is demanding a girl from the groom's family in compensation

ISSUES: Disappearance; fabricated charge; honour killing; violence against women
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a couple is missing after their arrest by police officers from two stations on the instructions of a high ranking police official. The couple was married in a civil court and was declared as Karo Kari (black and blacky, liable to be killed). After their arrest their whereabouts remain unknown but the father of the bride is asking for a teenage girl from the family of the groom to marry him as compensation and to gain his assistance in arranging the release of the couple. The police officials are also pressurizing the family members of the groom to accept these demands. Police filed a case of abduction of the bride against 11 persons from the groom's family including a child of five years.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Mr. Shahid Ali Shahani, 20, son of Haji Shah Nawaz Shahani, resident of Ghotki, married Ms. Nadia, 18, daughter of Ghulam Hussain Shahani, in a civil court at Malir, Karachi, Sindh in the month of November 2010. Mr. Ghulam Hussain Shahani, the father of the bride, was against the marriage when Shaid Ali's family sent a formal request for the marriage of his daughter to their son. Ghulam Hussain accepted the proposal on the condition that one teen age girl from Shahid's family should be given to him in marriage. Ghulam is 70 years old and was previously married ten times. Eight of them ended in divorced. Ghulam is a businessman and runs a car show room in Ghotki. It is alleged that he deals in stolen cars or those cars which are smuggled from Iran. It is also alleged that Ghulam has a business partnership with Gul Hassan Lohar, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of police who provides him protection for his business.

After their marriage the couple lived at Pahalwan Goth of Karachi to hide from the family of the bride who threatened that they would be killed in honour killings. Ghulam filed a case of abduction against the groom, Shahid Ali, in Ghotki. On 23 January 2011, the case of abduction was fixed in the session court of Ghotki. The couple arrived on January 22 at the house of the groom to attend the court proceedings against them and to submit their marriage certificate. The information was leaked to the family members of Ghulam Hussain and the DSP. In the early hours of January 23 at 4 AM the police from two police stations, namely Adil Pur and Ghotki, raided the house of the groom. They came in two police vehicles and the DSP was leading the raid. The male members of the Ghulam family were also with the police party. They broke open the doors of the house and fired their weapons in the air. The women were abused and beaten and the hand of a sister-in-law of the groom was fractured. The police also took away Rs. 200,000 and gold from the house. The Police arrested the couple and since then their whereabouts are known.

Ghulam is still insisting for the barter of one girl from the groom's family as compensation for the marriage. The station head officers of the two police stations will not reveal the whereabouts of the couple and are directing the groom's family to contact the DSP. Ghulam claims that he held a Jirga, the illegal court of tribal traditions, which has announced that couple is Karo Kari and should be killed.

It is apprehended by the family members of Shahid that the couple might have already been killed in the name of honour.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to initiate an inquiry against the police officials and other perpetrators who have illegally arrested a couple without any charge and prosecute them for causing their disappearance. Please urge the authorities to recover them safely and provide them protection.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs on the Question of disappearance and violence against women calling for his intervention into this matter.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

PAKISTAN: A couple is missing after their arrest by policemen – the 70-year-old father of the bride is demanding a girl from the groom's family in compensation

Name of victims:
1. Mr. Shahid Ali Shahani, aged 20, (groom) son of Shah Nawaz, resident of Sodo Shahani, Ghotki, Sindh province
2. Ms.Nadia, aged18, (bride) daughter of Ghulam Hussain Shahani, resident of Sodo Shahani, Ghotki, Sindh province
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Gul Hassan Lohar, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Ghotki, District Ghotki
2. Station House Officer (SHO) of Ghotki police station, Ghotki
3. Station House Officer (SHO) Adil Pur police station, Ghotki district
All are employed in the Sindh province

4. Mr. Ghulam Hussain Shahani, father of Nadia, resident of Sodo Shahani, District Ghotki, Sindh province

Date of incident: 23 January 2011
Place of incident: Village Sodo Shahani, Ghotki district, Sindh province

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the illegal arrest of a couple by officers from two police stations of the Ghotki distict. Following their arrest they have disappeared and their whereabouts remain unknown. The police are refusing to reveal their whereabouts since their arrest on January 23, 2011. A DSP of the Ghotki police is allegedly supporting the father of bride to punish the couple for their marriage and pressuring the family members of the groom to give one teenage girl as compensation to marry the father of bride who is 70 years old.

I am shocked to know that police have kept a couple incommunicado for pressuring the couple to accept the condition of the perpetrators. It is also alleged that the DSP is the business partner in the illegal business of perpetrator and is using his position to protect the man.

The details of the case are as follows: Mr. Shahid Ali Shahani, 20, son of Haji Shah Nawaz Shahani, resident of Ghotki, married Ms. Nadia, 18, daughter of Ghulam Hussain Shahani, in a civil court at Malir, Karachi, Sindh in the month of November 2010. Mr. Ghulam Hussain Shahani, the father of the bride, was against the marriage when Shaid Ali's family sent a formal request for the marriage of his daughter to their son. Ghulam Hussain accepted the proposal on the condition that one teen age girl from Shahid's family should be given to him in marriage. Ghulam is 70 years old and was previously married ten times. Eight of them ended in divorced. Ghulam is a businessman and runs a car show room in Ghotki. It is alleged that he deals in stolen cars or those cars which are smuggled from Iran. It is also alleged that Ghulam has a business partnership with Gul Hassan Lohar, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of police who provides him protection for his business.

After their marriage the couple lived at Pahalwan Goth of Karachi to hide from the family of the bride who threatened that they would be killed in honour killings. Ghulam filed a case of abduction against the groom, Shahid Ali, in Ghotki. On 23 January 2011, the case of abduction was fixed in the session court of Ghotki. The couple arrived on January 22 at the house of the groom to attend the court proceedings against them and to submit their marriage certificate. The information was leaked to the family members of Ghulam Hussain and the DSP. In the early hours of January 23 at 4 AM the police from two police stations, namely Adil Pur and Ghotki, raided the house of the groom. They came in two police vehicles and the DSP was leading the raid. The male members of the Ghulam family were also with the police party. They broke open the doors of the house and fired their weapons in the air. The women were abused and beaten and the hand of a sister-in-law of the groom was fractured. The police also took away Rs. 200,000 and gold from the house. The Police arrested the couple and since then their whereabouts are known.

It is distressing for me as to how the police obeyed the illegal orders of high police officials and illegally arrested the couple.

Ghulam is still insisting for the barter of one girl from the groom's family as compensation for the marriage. The station head officers of the two police stations will not reveal the whereabouts of the couple and are directing the groom's family to contact the DSP. Ghulam claims that he held a Jirga, the illegal court of tribal traditions, which has announced that couple is Karo Kari and should be killed.

It is apprehended by the family members of Shahid that the couple might have already been killed in the name of honour.

I am appalled to know that the couple have been in the custody of the police despite the fact that it has been announced that they are disappeared. There is no legal rule of law for the police to their authority against the ordinary citizens. If any harm is done to the couple during their disappearance the police officials of the Adil Pur and Ghokti including the DSP of Ghotki should be held responsible.

I urge you to recover the couple from the police officials. These officers, including DSP Gul Hassan Lohar, should be prosecuted for illegal arrest and disappearance.

Yours sincerely,

----------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9204801/9214171
Fax: +92 51 9207458
Email: publicmail@president.gov.pk

2. Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk

3. Syed Qaim Ali Shah
Chief Minister
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000
E-mail: pppsindh@yahoo.com

4. Mr. Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani
Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +9251-9204108
Email: sarfaraz_yousuf@yahoo.com

5. Mr. Muhammad Ayaz Soomro
Minister for Law, Parliamantry Affairs & Criminal Prosecution Service
Sindh Assembly Building,
Court road, Karachi, Sindh province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9211982
E-mail: secy.law@sindh.gov.pk

6. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar, Karachi
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9213220
E-mail: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk

7. Ms. Nadia Gabol
Minister for Human Rights
Government of Sindh,
Pakistan secretariat, Barrack 92,
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9207044
Tel: +92 21 9207043 +92 21 9207043 +92 21 9207043 +92 21 9207043
E-mail: lukshmil@yahoo.com

8. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk

9. Inspector General of Police
Police Head office, I. I. Chundrigar road
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9212051
E-mail: ppo.sindh@sindhpolice.gov.pk


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-038-2011
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.