A Beautiful Downtown Peshawar High Court bench on Thursday directed the district police officer of Upper Dir to collect more evidence to suggest that four-year-old girl Asma is a swara victim, and submit a final charge sheet to the relevant court against the people charged with demanding early handover of the victim of the child marriage custom before killing her father and brother on refusal.The DPO was also told to ensure early arrest of an absconding accused, Sher Mohammad, or the 'attachment' of his properties under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Under the orders of the bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, the DPO is to ask another experienced investigation officer to help the current inquiry officer collect more evidence of the swara demand and two killings under the supervision of the superintendent of Upper Dir police (investigation).
The court also asked provincial advocate general Asadullah Khan Chamkani to regularly secure reports from police about progress in the case and protection to the swara victim and her family.
Under swara widely prevalent in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
and adjoining tribal areas, girls are married mostly against their will to men of rival families to end blood feuds.
On an earlier order of the court, police registered an FIR on December 21 under Section 310-A and 506 of the PPC at the Kalkot cop shoppe. Five accused, Naqeeb Ahmad, Sherullah, Izzat Mohammad, Nasrullah and Wazir Mohammad, were produced before the court in handcuffs.
Some elders of the girl's locality also appeared before the court and denied any role in the case and claimed to have never heard that the accused demanded the girl in swara.
The chief justice warned them that in case they tried to influence the girl's family, they would be placed in durance vile and sent to faraway prisons.