SUKKUR, July 24: A private court has decided that a couple, who married of their free will, should separate. The court also declared them karo-kari (adulterers).

The jirga (court) was held in Mirzapur area of Kandhkot on Monday to decide the fate of Kaz Bano and her husband Gulzar Ahmed Shaikh.

According to Gulzar, Kaz Bano, a resident of Rahim Bux Khoso village near Kandhkot, was earlier married to his brother Abdul Rasool Shaikh and they had seven children. After his death, Gulzar came up with the proposal to marry her.

Gulzar told journalists that Kaz Bano’s parents asked him to pay Rs800,000 before the marriage but he refused to pay the amount.

Subsequently, Kaz Bano eloped with him and they formalised their marriage in the City Court in Karachi on June 16.

However, according to Gulzar, the jirga presided over by an elder of the Shaikh community, Fateh Mohammad, refused to accept the marriage. It imposed a fine of Rs600,00 on him and expelled him from the village for six months. The fine is to be paid to Kaz Bano’s parents.

He was warned that he would be killed if he entered the village in the intervening period.

The jirga decided that the woman would live with her parents. As a penalty, she was ordered to pledge to marry her two minor daughters to the sons of her brother, Rab Nawaz, when the children came of age.

Gulzar said that he could not accept the jirga’s verdict because Kaz Bano was his lawful wife, adding that he had married her to look after her children. He showed their Nikahnama to journalists.

After news reports about the jirga appeared on TV channels, police went into action, conducted a raid on some houses in Mirzapur, took the couple into custody and arrested Kaz Bano’s brother and mother whose names could not ascertained.

They would be produced in court on Wednesday.