JACOBABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has taken formal notice of a horrific incident in Jacobabad where an entire village was set on fire by armed men in retaliation for a court-arranged marriage.
The Chief Minister has sought a detailed report from the Commissioner and DIG Larkana and has directed them to ensure strict action against the accused.
Murad Ali Shah stated that the Commissioner of Larkana should take all possible steps to immediately assist the victims and investigate who gave the orders to burn the houses. He asserted that no one can be allowed to play with the lives and property of the people. The Sindh Chief Minister termed the burning of more than 100 houses an “inhumane and intolerable act.”
According to initial investigations by SSP Jacobabad Faizan Ali, a couple from village Siddiq Arain (the boy) and village Ghazi Khan Channa (the girl) had arranged their marriage through a Hyderabad court. Following this, armed suspects retaliated by setting fire to dozens of houses in Jacobabad.
The entire village was effectively punished for the arranged marriage. Malhar Barro, the father of the boy who had the court marriage, questioned by media : “What was the fault of the villagers? Why were 150 houses burnt?”
He alleged in a conversation with media that Saddam Barro and a leader of the Channa community, Ahmed Ali Channa, arrived with 400 armed men and set the entire village ablaze while everyone watched helplessly.
However, the girl’s relative, Sardar Ahmed Ali Channa, rejected the allegations. He told reporters that a minor girl was kidnapped from his village and that they will knock on the doors of the courts against the kidnapping. He insisted that they have no hand in the incident of setting the houses on fire.
