The unresolved case of Fazila!

society

Nine years have passed since Fazila Sarki, a young girl from Jacobabad, has gone missing. You! takes a look...

Giving birth to a child and raising them is not an easy task. The mother carries the child in her womb for nine months, goes through crucial pain to bring the baby into this world, and then sacrifices her sleep and time just to take care of the child. Parents try to provide their kids safe and secure living and seeing them in pain is just unbearable. Now imagine, the very child you loved and raised is snatched away from you by the ruthless criminals? You will be shattered and without wasting anytime you will do everything in your power to rescue your child.

Such is the story of a Fazila Sarki, a girl who was kidnapped nine years ago. The parents of the kidnapped girl have now spent more than 200 days at a protest camp in Thul Town of tribal-war stricken district Jacobabad. The parents only demand is to get their daughter back from those criminals who have taken her away. Seven-year-old Fazila Sarki was kidnapped on March 23, 2007 from village Garhi Hassan Sarki, District Jacobabad. Now Fazila is 16 and she is still with the rival tribe of Tegani within the ranges of Ghotki and Shikarpur.

Nine long years have passed, and even though her parents are threatened by the criminals to take their case back, the law has done nothing to relieve their pain. All they can do is perform sit-in protests in different cities and ask for help from human rights defenders, women rights activists, lawyers and political activists.

Although, the police have conducted raids several times, they always fail to recover the girl. Quite recently, the newly appointed A D Khuwaja, Inspector General (IG) Sindh, has issued strict directives to the police to ensure recovery of Fazila at any cost. Following the orders of the IG, police started hunting the kidnappers and arrested some criminals, but the girl is yet to be found.

According to renowned lawyer and human rights activist of Shikarpur, Parial Mari, who has been struggling to rescue the girl, the fault lies in the cruel tribal system which victimizes innocent people. "Fazila was kidnapped and traded by criminals. It is a lucrative business and practiced commonly in Sindh. The government's writ is questionable in these tribal-dominated areas thus the police has failed to recover the girl," informs Mari.

"The parents had given the police accurate information about the kidnappers and a few people from the Sarki tribe were arrested. One of the criminals confessed that the girl was initially sold to Budho Sarki who later on sold her to Yakoob Tegani. The whereabouts of the girl were clear and all that was needed was the help of tribal chieftains of Sarki and Tegani, to find Fazila. Unfortunately, it seems like the police are helpless in front of the powerful tribal system that has existed for years," adds Mari.

Curse of the tribal system

Sindh districts including Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Kashmor, Shahdadkot-Kambar and Larkana have been ruled by tribal chieftains since ages. Hence, the police lied to the media regarding the incident of Fazila Sarki.

"It is incidents like these that show how women are treated especially in the rural areas of our country. It is saddening that the law does not intervene in such cases," says Javed Soz of Sindh Community Foundation (SCF) - working for women rights protection in Sukkur and other districts.

"As far as women are concerned, they are deprived of their legitimate rights - be it education, their will for marriage, ensuring their right to family's property, decision-making at domestic level etc. These short comings are constant even when the government has laws to protect women rights," laments Soz.

Nazra Sagar, who works for women's rights and provides legal support to prisoners, stresses, "It is the responsibility of government to provide protection to every citizen. Kidnapping of Fazila is just one example of this cruel system. I have even visited shelter homes in the province, but it seems that women are not safe anywhere."

Is there any hope left?

According to activists the kidnapping of Fazila Sarki is just one of the many cases. In the past, nine members of peasant worker Mano Bheel's family were held hostages by the landlords and even though several years have passed, there is no clue of the missing people. For one long year, Mano Bheel protested outside the Hyderabad Press Club, but all his efforts went in vain.

Countless girls are being abducted, sold and killed in many areas. But sadly, only a few cases are reported while the rest are brushed under the carpet. Now the parents of Fazila only hope that their daughter returns home safely, as the government and all the laws have failed them.