Court frees wife from shelter home

LHC rules guardian cannot detain woman against will

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that even a lawful guardian cannot confine a person against their will without express legal authority, setting aside an order that sent a married woman to Darul Aman despite her repeated statements that she had married of her own free will and wanted to live with her husband.

LHC's Justice Khalid Ibn-i-Aziz observed that Section 552 CrPC does not empower a court to order the detention of a woman in a shelter home, particularly when she repeatedly expresses her willingness to live with her husband and denies having been abducted.

Justice Aziz ruled that proceedings under Section 552 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) must stop when a woman produced before a court denies abduction and disputes her alleged minority, holding that a court cannot use the provision to detain her in a shelter home against her wishes.

Detaining the woman for an indefinite period, without specifying when she would be released, was unjustified, particularly when she had consistently denied abduction and expressed her willingness to live with her husband, Justice Aziz further observed.

The court set aside an order passed by the Sessions Judge, Khushab, on May 20, 2026, directing Kiran Shaheen to be sent to Darul Aman, Khushab, and declared her free to live wherever she wished.

It allowed a criminal revision filed by Sher Baz and Safina Khatoon, parents of Muhammad Sheraz, while dismissing a connected writ petition filed by Ahmad Sher, father of Kiran.

According to the judgment, Kiran married Muhammad Sheraz on April 18, 2026, and subsequently started living with her in-laws in Lahore.

Her father lodged an FIR under Section 365-B of the Pakistan Penal Code at Mitha Tiwana police station, Khushab, alleging that unknown persons had abducted his daughter.

However, Kiran recorded a statement under Section 164 CrPC before a magistrate on April 30, 2026, categorically stating that she had married Sheraz of her own free will and had not been abducted.

Her father subsequently approached the sessions court under Section 552 CrPC, claiming that she was below 16 years of age and relying on a birth registration certificate issued by Union Council No15, Jabbi, Khushab, on April 24, 2026, showing her date of birth as December 20, 2013.