Girl denies being abducted by college gatekeeper

Presents marriage certificate before Abbottabad magistrate to confirm her elopement

ABBOTTABAD: A college girl, who had been reported as missing last week and a gatekeeper at her college had been booked for allegedly kidnapping her, came forward on Monday to deny that she had been abducted.

Yasmin Bibi, hailing from Muhallah Khola Kehal, had approached the Cantonment police in Abbottabad on January  5, stating that her daughter M* - a third year student at the Government Postgraduate Girls College Abbottabad – had gone to college but did not come home.



After an extended search in the area to locate her, Yasmin said that some members of her family told her that Asim Pervez, a resident of the same locality and a gatekeeper at M’s college, had allegedly kidnapped her with the help of some unidentified accomplices.

Yasmin subsequently lodged a complaint with the police against Pervez and his alleged accomplices under section 365-B/34 of the PPC. Police subsequently mounted a search for the girl and Pervez but to no avail.

Cantonment police officials, however, had told The Express Tribune on Saturday that they suspected that M had possibly eloped and contracted court marriage.

On Monday, M appeared in the court of an Abbottabad judicial magistrate and produced her marriage certificate (Nikahnama) with Pervez.

While recording her statement before the judge under section 164 of the CrPc, M said that she had been in love with Pervez for over a year.

She said that on her insistence, Pervez had sent his parents to her home with a formal proposal. But M’s parents rejected the proposal, objecting that Pervez was merely a gatekeeper.

M said that she made repeated attempts to convince her parents to consent to the match. But when her parents did not relent, she said she had no other recourse but to elope. She told the magistrate that she solemnised a court marriage of her own free will with Pervez.



The third year student conceded before the court that though the practice of eloping was frowned upon in their society and considered to be against social norms, she said she had been left with no other choice and that her parents were responsible for forcing her into this choice.

Later, the court allowed her to meet her siblings and parents within the court premises. The court also had her age confirmed through a medical examination. Following the examination, the court allowed her to leave with
her husband.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2017.