Free-will marriage: Bail for men accused of helping brother elope

KARACHI:

Two brothers were granted bail before arrest on charges of helping their third brother elope with his girlfriend. The young woman’s father has claimed she was taken by force.

Malir district and sessions court judge Muhammad Yamin heard the case for Salman and Irfan on Thursday. Their lawyer Dilshad Shaikh argued that their brother Noman and 16-year-old Samina eloped and married. Names have been changed to protect privacy. Samina is a nurse at a private hospital. Noman worked with her.

But Samina’s father Ajmal claims she was kidnapped by Noman and his brothers with the intention to commit Zina. She went missing after treating her mother’s illness at the hospital on August 14.

Their lawyer said that the couple had married of their own free will in Hyderabad. He produced a copy of their nikah nama and affidavits for the two brothers. Samina will soon appear before the court to record her statement. The judge set bail at Rs30,000 each and the next hearing has been fixed for September 1.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2012.