Abduction of girl leads to burning of 16 houses

E-Paper | March 19, 2026

MUZAFFARABAD: More than a dozen houses belonging to members of Gujjar tribe were set on fire by their opponents from Rajput tribe in a village near here on Tuesday, over alleged abduction of a girl.

The incident occurred in Dudhpura village in district Hattian Bala, where daughter of one Raja Naseer was allegedly abducted by someone from the Gujjar tribe about two weeks ago.

The girl’s family did not lodge any complaint with police and instead a jirga of notables from the rival clans decided that the girl would have to be returned by Tuesday.

As the girl was not returned by the deadline, people from Gujjar clan expressed their helplessness in this regard which aggravated the situation and led to the torching of around 16 houses.

They included 10 tin-roof houses and three shelters. Three of the units were uninhabited.

A senior police official told Dawn that cases had been registered against the accused and they were being hunted by the police teams.

Our readers are at the heart of everything we do.
Do you have a thought to share or a way we can improve? We’d love to hear it. Reach out to us at feedback@dawn.com.

Pakistan

Massive crackdown on money launderers across the country

TikTokers Rajab Butt, Nadeem Mubarak’s bail extended in gambling apps case

Punjab govt reply sought on delay in women ombudsperson’s appointment

Akram

Nov 13, 2013 02:15pm

this type of summary 'village justice' has to end. The perpetrators should be forced to rehabilitate and pay for the damage, they should also pay for the temporary housing costs of the affected families.

Recommend 0

baba Jee

Nov 15, 2013 09:46pm

This is nothing but ignorance

Recommend 0

Blitzer

Nov 16, 2013 03:24am

In a lot of cases where a "girl gets abducted" in Pakistan the ground realities tend to be different. What might have happened is that (perhaps) the girl ran off with some boy and they secretly got married. The family members of the girl then lodged bogus kidnapping cases against the boy and his family. Of course, there are exceptions, but the reprisal attacks and the burning down of 16 houses is a strong indication that there's more to the story than meets the eye. The perpetrators from both sides should be punished for their crimes. And the arsonists should be made an example out of.

Recommend 0

Branded Content

FaisalTown Group and Alfalah Investments forge strategic partnership for REIT-based villa development at Faisal Hills

The collaboration will advance healthcare, infrastructure advisory, and the development of 100 premium villas through an innovative REIT investment structure.