2005.03.01　 中國時報 

鍾玉玨/綜合廿八日外電報導

【摘要】

巴基斯坦中部旁遮普省一個小村莊裡的一名兩歲女童，被村裡最高決策機構—鄉村委員會許配給大她卅三歲的男子；十四年後若判決沒有變更，女童就得嫁人。這個案件起因於女童的叔父Akmal被人發現和有夫之婦通姦，因此鄉村委員會決定，除了支付廿三萬盧比（約臺幣十三萬五千元）賠償金，才兩歲大的姪女也必須因叔父之過而犧牲，嫁給那位戴綠帽的丈夫Altaf。Altaf發現妻子出軌後，已將妻子休了。 

鄉村委員會由村裡廿多名有聲望的人士組成，是巴國鄉下用以維持秩序與公義的有力機構。四個月前，同一地區一名遭強姦的四歲女童，被委員會決議處死。 巴國人權團體為本案的兩歲女童不平，但該村村民卻不敢公開質疑委員會的判決。女童家族中有一位廿六歲的叔父挺身而出表達他對這種體制的不滿。

Pakistani village council orders betrothal of 2-year-old girl to punish her uncle for adultery 

By Khalid Tanveer
ASSOCIATED PRESS
11:14 a.m. February 21, 2005

MULTAN, Pakistan – A tribal council in Pakistan has ordered the betrothal of a 2-year-old girl to a man 40 years older to punish her uncle for an alleged affair with the man's wife, police said Monday. 

The council decreed the girl must marry 42-year-old Mohammed Altaf, her uncle's cousin, when she turns 18, police said. 

Altaf, a farmer, divorced his 32-year-old wife over her alleged love affair with his 20-year-old cousin, Mohammed Akmal. Akmal, a bachelor and also a farmer, has no children. 

Altaf asked tribal elders in the village of Kacha Chohan, about 215 miles west of the city of Multan in Punjab province, to convene a panchayat, or council, on Feb. 15 to arbitrate and propose a punishment. As punishment, the elders ordered the girl's betrothal and ruled Akmal should also pay a $3,800 fine to the husband. 

Village councils in conservative rural regions of Pakistan traditionally rule on local disputes including those involving a family's "honor" purportedly being besmirched by allegations of improper sexual behavior. The councils can dictate harsh – and sometimes illegal – punishments. 

In 2002, another village council near Multan ordered a woman gang-raped as punishment for her brother's sexual relations with another woman. A court later convicted six men who perpetrated the rape and sentenced them to death. They are appealing the sentences. 

Police chief Maqsoodul Hassan said an investigation has been started into the case involving the 2-year-old girl, but they have made no arrests as no one had filed a complaint. 

None of the parties to the dispute could be reached for comment Monday. 

Rashid Rahman, a lawyer and Multan-based coordinator with the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, condemned the village council's decision. 

"These types of panchayats are illegal and nobody has the right to take a decision about a child's life," he said. "This country has its legal system and all decisions should be taken under it." 

He said that the betrothal of a minor did not itself break the law, but forcing a woman to marry against her will carried a maximum 14-year jail sentence. Underage marriage is also illegal but is only punishable by a fine. 

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20050221-1114-pakistan-adultery.html