The Peshawar High Court (PHC) granted a newlywed couple its freedom, accepting their bail request of Rs50,000 along with two reliable sureties on Monday.
Waqas and Zenab had contracted a court marriage, but Zenab’s father Sultan denounced the contract and charged Waqas under Section 365(b) for abduction and 495 for marriage over marriage of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The couple were married on September 4. Zenab recorded a statement under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code stating she had married Waqas out of her own free will adding that her father was forcibly marrying her off to another person named Waqar.
Since Zenab’s father had already filed case against the couple, both were arrested and put behind bars.
When the couple filed a bail request, Sultan contended that his daughter was married to Waqar, adding that her second marriage is against Islamic law. He also produced documented proof of Zenab’s alleged first marriage.
PHC Chief Justice (CJ) Dost Muhammad Khan said that the documents produced by Sultan appeared to be fake and asked the director general of the anti-corruption department to intervene.
The director general was asked to ascertain the authenticity of the marriage certificate by comparing signatures and fingerprints of the first matrimonial contract with the second so the originality of the first could be established. CJ Khan added that if the documents produced by Sultan were found to be forged, the anti-corruption department should take action against the cleric who had signed the documents.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2012.
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