Man fined `1.7m for love marriage

Karachi: A Pakistani ‘jirga’ (tribal court) punished a man for ‘love marriage’ and ordered him to pay a fine of `1.7 million to his wife’s family for bringing a “bad name” to them. It also ordered the couple to be expelled from the village for three months.

Karachi, March 9: A Pakistani “jirga”, or tribal court, has punished a man for “love marriage” and ordered him to pay a hefty Rs 1.7 million fine to his wife’s family for bringing a “bad name” to them.

The jirga, held in Bajar Abad village near Tangwani in Kandhkot-Kashmore district of the southern Sindh province this week, declared the man “an adulterer” and ordered the couple to be expelled from the village for

The wife’s family approached the jirga seeking compensation for the bad name the marriage had brought them

three months.

The woman had married the man on her own free will eight months ago in a court of law, inviting the ire of her family who took the complaint to the jirga and sought “compensation” for the “bad name” the marriage brought them, Dawn News reported.

The jirga, chaired by Mir Ashraf Ali Bijarani, found the man guilty of being a “karo” (adulterer) and imposed on him Rs 1.7 million fine, besides ordering expulsion of the couple.

Last month, Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a bill, giving legal and constitutional cover to the centuries-old jirga and panchayat systems in the country.