Pakistan, March 11 -- In Dera Ismail Khan, a father's anguish culminated in tragedy when he ended his own life after a local panchayat coerced him into surrendering his daughter under the oppressive practice of Vani. This heart-wrenching incident exposes-once again-a brutal tradition used to settle feuds and compensate for alleged crimes.

Vani is not a relic confined to the past. While we wish to believe that the trade of human lives, sometimes involving children as young as two, is an isolated aberration, the reality is far grimmer. Conservative pockets across Pakistan still harbour this inhumane custom. A scandal hit headlines in 2021 in Chitral, where a sitting member of parliament had married a 14-year-old girl in blatant defiance of...