A group of 12 clerics in Pakistan’s Kohistan announced on Saturday that women working with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) would not be allowed to mingle with ‘na mahram’ men in public. The clerics stated that if a married woman is found accompanying a non-mahram man, she would be expelled from the area. If the woman is single, the accompanying man must enter into a marriage with her. However, the local authorities have dismissed the decision, calling it blackmail.
