KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A love story between a couple from rival ethnic groups ended Thursday with the man in jail and the woman in hiding, in fear of her life after taking a lover from outside her tribe.
Kanwar Ahson, looking haggard and frightened, was arrested and taken to Karachi District Court to face charges of having sex outside of marriage.
His bride, an ethnic Pathan, was believed to be in hiding after her father and members of her tribe sentenced her to death for running off with Ahson. Some newspapers said attempts were being made to slip Riffat Afridi out of the country so she could seek asylum in a Western country.
Ahson belongs to the Mohajir ethnic group, made up of Indian immigrants who settled in Pakistan when the subcontinent became independent in 1947.
Last week, news of the young couple’s union set off ethnic rioting in Karachi, a Mohajir-dominated city of 14 million people. The violence shut down the city, killed two, and seriously injured eight.