SHC orders cops to take Arzoo to shelter home

PTA to be added as party in plea seeking declaration of Macron as a terrorist

The Sindh High Court directed on Monday the police to find Arzoo Masih – a teenage Christian girl who was allegedly abducted before being forced to convert and marry a Muslim man – and shift her to a shelter home.

Later in the evening, Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab tweeted that the police had recovered Arzoo, who is 13 years old, according to her verified B-form.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice KK Agha and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito, issued notices to the Sindh IGP and others over Arzoo’s recovery.

Police officials informed the court that the SHC had earlier directed the law enforcers to provide protection to the girl, but they had been unable to locate her. They expressed the fear that she had been hidden somewhere by her alleged husband, 44-year-old Syed Ali Azhar.

The officials moved the court to permit them to shift Arzoo to Darul Aman.

The Sindh advocate general, too, stated that the police had searched for the girl but had been unable to find her.

Justice Agha remarked that the court had not restrained the police and other relevant agencies from investigating the case.

The counsels representing Arzoo’s parents moved the court to order the relevant authorities to recover her immediately and conduct a medical examination. They added that determining her age was crucial.

“The court will act according to the law and no child marriages can happen because there are laws against it,” remarked Justice Sahito, adding that the court could direct the authorities to conduct Arzoo’s medical examination once she was recovered.

The bench directed the police to recover Arzoo and shift her to Darul Aman, further ordering them to present her in court at the next hearing.

Issuing notices to the Sindh IGP and others, the court sought their replies on November 5.

Tweeting about the matter, Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said that her lawyer had informed the court that an intervener would be filed on her behalf as well.

Meanwhile, lawyer Jibran Nasir, who is representing Arzoo’s parents, also took to Twitter, stating that the court had noted the issues to be addressed were the girl’s age, whether she had been forcibly converted and whether her marriage was legal. Calling on the Sindh government and police to use all resources at their disposal in the case, he added, “To save our children, the government, police, judiciary, lawyers, civil society and media all should be on one page.”

He further expressed the hope that with both the Sindh and federal governments on board in pursuing justice for Arzoo, the case would become ground for renewed focus on children’s rights. Moreover, he pointed out similar patterns that appeared in cases of forced conversions and child marriage in the city, claiming that the cleric who certified Arzoo’s conversion was an absconder in other child marriage cases as well.

According to Arzoo’s father Raja, she was kidnapped on from their house in Railway Quarters, in the limits of the Preedy police. He claimed the kidnapper lived near their house and was a Sindh government employee, adding that Azhar had abducted Arzoo with the help of his brothers, Mohsin and Shariq, and a friend.

On Saturday, a local court had dismissed a plea seeking the issuance of orders to send Arzoo to a shelter home. Earlier, a judicial magistrate had granted bail to Azhar’s brothers and friend, while the SHC restrained the police from arresting Azhar himself.

‘Blasphemy by Macron’

Meanwhile, a two-member bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, directed a petitioner seeking the declaration of French President Emmanuel Macron as a terrorist, to file an amended plea.

The petitioner’s counsel called for French products to be removed from stores across the country and the declaration of the French president as a terrorist.

“Under which law should the court declare Macron a terrorist?” inquired Justice Mazhar, at which the lawyer argued that the French president had hurt the feelings of Muslims around the world.

Justice Mazhar remarked that the court could order the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to remove blasphemous content from social media.

The bench directed the petitioner to nominate PTA as a party and file an amended plea.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2020.