Her family fights for her right to marry the man she loves.
In Pakistan, the outdated tradition of forced marriage has been eradicated the life of one girl.
The Guardian writes about this.
Despite the ban on forced marriage, a man made claims against Intekha Bibi when she was 12 years old. Now she lives in fear as her family fights for her right to marry the man she chooses.
The happiest moment for Intekha was her engagement last year. The 25-year-old woman believed that she had not only found the perfect match, but also freedom from a centuries-old custom in northwestern Pakistan that had hung over her head for 13 years.
But after a few months, her fiancé and his family broke off their engagement. All because of an outdated and illegal custom known as “ghag” – a Pashto word meaning proclamation, allowing another man to forcibly declare a woman to be his intended wife.
A man named Mahabat Khan tried to gag Bibi and made it clear to the community of the Bajaur tribal district where they lived that he still intended to marry her.
Although Bibi and her family rejected Han's proposal when she was a child, by custom she cannot marry anyone else.
“I have no life,” Bibi said. “I'm traumatized, I have anxiety, and I can't sleep without medication. I'm a human being and I have every right to marry whoever I want. I'm a woman, not a toy, and I don't want to force myself to marry someone.” .
The ghag is kept in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan. The claim is brought by sending a marriage proposal, firing a gun at the girl's house, or filing an open written statement for the girl's hand in marriage without her consent or the consent of her parents.
In 2019, an attempt was made to steal Bibi from her home. She was at home with her stepmother when Han's brother knocked on the gate with a gun in his hand: “I'm here to pick up Bibi, my daughter-in-law. Bibi is my brother's wife and he has a claim on her,” he said.< /p>
Bibi remembered: “I started shaking and crying. We closed the door and told him that there was no man at home, that it was time for him to go, and he left.”
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Parliament banned forced marriage in 2013, making it an offense punishable by up to seven years in prison or a heavy fine.
Bibi's younger brother, Sanaullah, is fighting in court for his sister's rights after the local jirga – the tribe's council of elders – failed to act. In 2021, by court decision, Mahabat Khan and his brothers were arrested. Mahabat Khan signed written certificates stating that he would no longer demand marriage.
“He lied,” says Sanaullah. “After my sister got engaged, he told her fiance and family to break off the engagement. He said he would return the amount they invested in the engagement. We left the village and moved to Islamabad, but the man does not stop his crime. My sister fell ill, can't leave the house and doesn't talk to his sisters, but the evil man is proud of it. We live in the dark medieval ages.”
Sanaullah returned to court in Bajaur after breaking off the engagement to demand further action. But he says he has received death threats and everyone in the tribal area is afraid to go near his sister.
In the past, he said, such problems led to such violent tribal feuds that people were killed.
“It's been months since the family was forced to break off their engagement,” Sanaullah says. “I fight for my sister's rights, but I am disappointed in the system because justice must prevail. In our case, this did not happen.”
Recall that recently a teacher was kidnapped and forced to marry at gunpoint. A man hopes to have his marriage annulled.
Related topics:
More news
