Fighting Vani


IT IS encouraging to note that a 12-year-old girl is fighting back in a village in Mianwali and refusing to “honour” a forced marriage to a man who is 35 years old and father of three that was thrust on her. This evil curse of vani or swara, which never seeks a woman’s consent, is used as a way to settle scores between warring parties, where girls are offered as compensation. All too often very young girls are married off to very old men. In 2002, there was the case of a 20-year-old girl who refused to honour a marriage that was made when she was a mere four months old. Last year too many cases of vani were reported in the press, including one of a two-year-old girl in Bahwalnagar who was married to a 42-year-old man. This is simply barbaric and mercifully the law thinks so too, notably the Supreme Court which took note of the rise in such cases and ordered the police to play a more forceful role in registering cases against those who practise it.

Laws alone cannot bring about a change and need to be supported by enlightened sections of the community speaking out against such abhorrent customs and practices. In this case, the 12-year-old girl wrote to the district police officer who looked into the matter and managed to convince the family to end the vani through divorce. While this is a good example of how the police can work with the community to resolve such problems, it must still provide the girl with some security for there is a likelihood that she could get into serious trouble for refusing to go through the vani process. It is for this reason that society must be enlightened and its attitudes towards primitive practices changed. NGOs are trying to do so and must be supported in their endeavours.

etna gehrai sey bhe en subjects main soachna parta hey, ye to phr bht mushkel hey