Hamir Singh crowned 26th Rana

Police busts 'eunuch wedding' in Peshawar

A Pakistani court on Tuesday remanded in custody a portly fertiliser dealer and teenage eunuch for allegedly trying to marry in the city of Peshawar, police said.

The alleged couple and dozens of guests were arrested when police raided a late-night party after a tip off that 42-year-old Malik Mohammad Iqbal Khan was trying to marry a 19-year-old eunuch, police said.

“We arrested the bridegroom, the would-be bride and 41 others at the wedding party,” local police station chief Shahid Khan told AFP in the working class neighbourhood of Faqir Abad in the northwestern city.

All of them were remanded in custody for one day on charges of attending an event that is “against Sharia law” and “illegal”, police said.

The fertiliser dealer, who already has two wives, denied he was marrying the eunuch, it had only been a birthday party for Rani.

“We were having a birthday party, but police arrested us. We had no intention of getting married,” he told AFP at the police station.

The furious 'bride' also insisted it had only been a birthday bash.

“I pray there should be more suicide attacks on police because they put people in trouble unnecessarily,” said Rani, who gave only one name.

Shah Faisal, a senior lawyer in Peshawar, said that police brought up the charge of “unnatural sexual offence” against the accused for which the maximum punishment was life imprisonment.

Police showed an AFP reporter a room in the neighbourhood that had been strung with lights and decked out in a style befitting newly wed couples in northwest Pakistan.

Police pointed to Rani's palms, which were covered in henna, a traditional rite of passage for brides but also performed for other special occasions.

Rani's family was paid 300,000 rupees (3,550 dollars) by Khan and another 80,000 rupees (946 dollars) to pay off a debt owed by Rani, Shahid Khan said.

Pakistan is a deeply conservative Muslim country where sex outside marriage is taboo and homosexuality illegal.

The eunuch community, which includes hermaphrodites, transsexuals, transvestites and homosexuals, is mocked, pitied and shunned by society. They frequently beg on the streets and many end up as prostitutes.

In a move toward granting the country's estimated 500,000 eunuchs rights, Pakistan's top judge has ordered the government to recognise them as a distinct gender, although how it will be implemented remains to be seen.




Hamir Singh crowned 26th Rana

barmer Rana Hamir Singh, the son of Rana Chander Singh, was crowned the 26th Rana of Rajputs/ Thakurs of Tharparkar on Sunday. Hamir Singh has worked as the deputy Nazim of Umerkot. The coronation, held at the playground of Govt Boys High School, drew a large number of elders of the community and the local elite. People belonging to different faiths turned up to watch the event. The ceremony began with the entry into Mithi of a convoy of hundreds of vehicles from Rana Jagir (Rana’s native village near Umerkot). When the caravan stopped at the old Naka (checkpoint), two girls sang “arti” in praise of a deity during which worshippers hold a platter containing incense. Rana Hamir Singh sat on a resplendent chariot, which was followed by scores of other vehicles. A large number of Thakurs attired in traditional Rajputi dress of “pheenta” (a multi-coloured turban) and “traita” (a white sheet), stood on both sides of the road to herald the arrival of the new Rana. Pir Ladhusingh, the guardian of the Pir Pithoro shrine, put a golden crown on Rana Hamir Singh’s head on behalf of the Rajput community. Addressing the ceremony, Rana Hamir said he would follow in the footsteps of his late father and do his best to improve the lot of the people of Tharparkar