Love marriage sparks arson attack on village

JACOBABAD: Police in Jacobabad have registered a First Information Report over an attack on a village that residents say was carried out in retaliation for a marriage by free will, with five suspects arrested so far out of 32 people named in the case.

According to the police action taken on Saturday, Jacobabad SSP Faizan Ali also constituted an investigation team and told affected residents that everyone involved would be brought to justice.

The incident took place in village Muhammad Siddique Arain in the Mirpur Burirro area. According to residents from the Burirro tribe, more than 100 armed men from the Channa tribe attacked the settlement on May 5. They said the assailants opened fire, forced villagers out of their homes and then torched the houses along with household belongings and valuables.

Residents said the attack was linked to the recent marriage of a Burirro man to a woman from the Channa tribe without the consent of her parents. The reports identified the couple as Sidra Channa and Muhammad Hassan Burirro. Sidra Channa had solemnised her marriage with Muhammad Hassan Burirro in a court in Hyderabad earlier this month.

Speaking to the media, Sidra said she had left her home of her own choice to marry Hassan and had not taken any valuables with her. She also sought protection, saying she had received death threats from her family.

Police case registered after 10 days

The case was lodged 10 days after the attack, which had drawn attention over the scale of destruction in the village. Police have so far detained five of the nominated suspects, while 32 individuals have been named in the FIR.

Former prime minister Muhammad Mian Soomro visited the affected village on Saturday and said 80 houses had been burned in the attack. He also said that two girls from the village had gone missing after the incident, adding that they might have been killed or abducted. "No law or morality can condone such a cruel and heinous revenge," he further added.

Soomro said during his visit. He urged the judiciary to take notice of the incident and appealed to affluent members of society to help provide relief to the victims, many of whom, he said, had spent days in the intense May heat in one of the hottest regions of the world.

He further said that while police had arrested some suspects, additional names should be included in the FIR.

"The affected people know well who burnt their homes," he said.

The attackers were identified by residents as belonging to village Ghazi Khan Channa. SSP Faizan Ali’s assurance and the formation of an investigation team came as survivors continued to seek action over the destruction of homes and property in the village.