Pathan Tribesmen Shoot Man Who Married For Love
KARACHI, Pakistan - The man whose marriage to a member of a rival Muslim group sparked riots in this troubled port was shot and critically wounded today as he entered a courthouse.
Kanwar Ahson was shot by Pathan tribesmen, including his bride's father and brother, who opposed their marriage. Ahson, a member of the Muhajir community, was on his way to answer a charge that he violated Islam's ban on extramarital sex.
His attackers were among 250 ethnic Pathans who had gathered outside the courthouse to protest Ahson's marriage to Riffat Afridi, a Pathan.
"We were walking up the stairs to the courtroom when the gunmen opened fire from a floor above," said Obaidullah, a policeman who uses only one name. Obaidullah, one of several policemen guarding Ahson, was also wounded.
At the nearby Civil Hospital, 70 policemen stood guard outside Ahson's operating room. Doctors said a bullet had lodged near his heart.
A steel gate outside the emergency ward was padlocked to protect doctors inside, officials said.
Police arrested eight Pathan tribesmen, including the bride's father, Jabbar Afridi; her brother Abbass Afridi; and the man whom the woman's family had intended her to marry, Niazbat Khan.
Riffat Afridi's family has claimed that she had previously married Khan. The couple has denied the earlier marriage, which the father made public only after his daughter surrendered to police last week.
The trouble began last month when Ahson married Riffat Afridi against her family's wishes.
Initially her family accused Ahson, in his late 20s, of kidnapping their 18-year-old daughter, a charge both she and her husband have denied. The couple has been charged with illegally having sex outside marriage, although Ahson has produced their marriage certificate before the court.
Shortly after their marriage, a council of Pathan elders sentenced Afridi to death, saying she had dishonored her family by leaving her home with a man who was not a relative. Their marriage sparked riots last month that left two people dead and shut down this city of 14 million people, Pakistan's financial hub.
Afridi, who turned herself in to police, said in court last Thursday that she had chosen to marry Ahson. Afridi still is in police custody.