Pak jirga's judgement to stone couple to death criticized

Lahore, July 9 (ANI): Pakistan's Women Action Forum (WAF) has lodged a strong protest against reports of judgement pronounced by a self-styled jirga to stone to death a couple over alleged illicit affair.

According to reports, a jirga convened in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kala Dhaka area had ordered a man and woman to be stoned to death after they were seen walking together in a field.

A statement issued by the WAF noted that Kala Dhaka was a Provincially Administered Tribal Area (PATA) until it was converted into a settled area and renamed 'Torghar' last week, and that the provincial law enforcement system are de facto functional in the region.

It urged the Supreme Court to take note of the issue and declare 'jirgas' and 'panchayats' as illegal parallel systems of justice, The Daily Times reports.

The WAF also called the apex court to instruct the federal and all the provincial governments to eradicate all existing jirgas and punish all those who participate in them. (ANI)