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Jirga to kill anyone reporting honour killing cases to police

By Zahid Jan

DIR: Anyone reporting an honour killing case to the police or filing a case with the court will be killed by the jirga (tribal court) since the publicising of such cases has brought a bad name to the area, Malik Faiz Muhammad, a member of the Nihag-Wari jirga in Upper Dir, said on Friday.

The Nihag-Dara Wari jirga had issued a controversial verdict in favour of honour killing around 15 days ago, declaring it a permissible act.

A Wari police station official said that over 150 people had attended the jirga, but Malik Faiz told Daily Times that the jirga consisted of more than 4,000 people representing the entire area.

“We stick to our verdict that honour killing is permissible and those who commit it will not be liable to any punishment. We will also not allow the aggrieved party to report the case to the police or file the case before a court. We will kill those who will violate the jirga verdict,” he said.

Malik Faiz said that the jirga would investigate such cases and punish those found guilty on its own. He said that the jirga members were ready to sacrifice their lives to uphold their verdict.

Certain union council nazims also attended the jirga called by the Painda Khel tribe and endorsed the decision of the jirga.

The jirga also declared that no action would be taken against anyone killing a robber. Jirga participants said that they would defend any oppressed person taking shelter in the area, but pledged action against those sheltering aggressors.

The federal government had asked the provincial government to investigate the jirga’s verdict on honour killing.

Sajid Mohmand, Upper Dir senior superintendent of police (SSP), said that the government would not accept the jirga’s “illegal” verdict on honour killings, adding that all such cases would be registered and those found guilty would be punished according to the due process of law.

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