Nobody allowed to use the word ‘Ghag’: PHC

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) declared on Monday that nobody, not even those residing in tribal areas, is allowed to use the word "Ghag" - a customary practice in which a man lays claim to a girl for marriage and ensures that the girl cannot receive a marriage proposal from any other man.

"The girl is free and she has the right to marry a man of her own choice. Nobody can seize this fundamental right from a girl," a division bench comprising Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim said while hearing writ petition filed by Amina, daughter of Salim Jan, a resident of Bajaur Agency and presently living in Shah Mansoor Town, Swabi.

She had sought protection against a man who used the word of Ghag on her and directives for the political administration to take action against the Ghag culprits. The court also ruled that the petitioner has the legal right to lodge first information report (FIR) against the culprits under the Ghag Law in the nearby police station of Swabi district as they were presently living in the settled, not a tribal area, where the law is not extended.

During hearing, the petitioner's lawyer, Javed Ali Asghar, informed the bench that one Muhammad Sher had sought the petitioner girl's hand in marriage to his son Iftikhar when the age of the petitioner was only two years. However, the girl's father did not agree to the proposal and said he wanted his daughter to first receive education and then herself decide about her marriage after attaining puberty. He said that in 2005, Muhammad Sher insisted on his early proposal, but the parents straightaway refused engagement of their daughter to the respondent.

"After refusal, the respondents warned the girl's parents that under the customary practice of Ghag, she is the wife of Iftikhar and would not be married to anyone till her death," the lawyer submitted before the court.

He said that the respondents had warned relatives of the petitioner to refrain from getting the girl married off and also threatened anyone sending marriage proposal to the girl. The petitioner claimed that the man who used the word of Ghag on her had married in 2007 and was having four children and enjoying his life, but he was obstructing the petitioner's marriage.

It was stated that the petitioner was now 26 years old and wanted marriage on her own free will. However, counsels for the respondents submitted that the court had no jurisdiction in the case as the Ghag law was not extended to Fata.

Under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elimination of Custom of Ghag Act 2013, whoever used Ghag to ask for a girl's hand in marriage would be punishable with imprisonment for a term no less than three years, which may also be extended to seven years, and a fine of Rs0.5 million.

Under the practice, a man who declares Ghag on a girl may not be able to marry her but the custom covertly serves as a means to seek revenge from families and is a threatening tool to resolve disputes.