Court orders daily religious lessons for brothel owner

Cleric to help the accused ‘repent for her sins’ for one hour every day.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has accepted the bail application of a brothel owner on the condition that she will spend at least one hour daily at a mosque.

According to an FIR registered on September 6, police received information about a house situated in Hayatabad Phase 4, being run as a brothel.

Police raided the house and arrested Rabia, Sumaira, Khan Sultana, Rubi and the owner of the brothel, Neelam.

All the accused filed an application seeking bail from a lower court on September 14, however, Additional District and Sessions Judge Asad Hameed Bangash, rejected the bail request.

On Monday, during a hearing of their bail request, PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan accepted the plea of four women and fined them Rs50,000 with two reliable sureties. Neelam’s bail was approved conditionally.

The court ordered that Neelam must visit the Imam of Zarghuni Mosque in Hayatabad everyday for one month to repent for her sins.

The court had earlier sent police to another alleged brothel run by Aslam and his wife Shabana upon Neelam’s information.

However, Aslam’s daughter denied the charges by saying Neelam was a domestic helper at their house and had escaped after robbing them. The PHC had accepted the bail request for Aslam and Shabana.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2012.