Threatened by family: High court quashes man’s FIR against daughter’s court marriage

Orders AAG to protect couple after Bushra shares she is fearful of relatives reacting.

PESHAWAR: For the second time in the last four days, a court had to help a couple that got married without parental consent.

On Tuesday, the Peshawar High Court ordered the police to provide protection to Bushra and Maqbool Rehman who got married on June 4 against their parent’s wishes. The couple, from Abbottabad, had said they feared for their security.

The order was issued by Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Musarrat Hilali who were hearing the case. The couple’s lawyer, Advocate Muhammad Nawaz Swati, told the bench his clients got married in court and possess a valid nikkah nama. Swati said that on June 8, Bushra’s father Anwar Shah filed an FIR at the Mirpur station in Abbottabad against Reman under Section 365-B of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to this part of the penal code, whoever kidnaps a woman with the intent to coerce her into marrying against her will, or intends to engage in illicit sex, can be sentenced to jail for life in addition to a fine.

The bench then asked Abida Safdar, a lawyer present at court, to ask Bushra whether there was any pressure on her to marry Rehman or whether Bushra married him of her own free will.

After speaking with Bushra, Safdar told the court that, “The couple liked each other and married out of choice without any pressure.” She said the girl had not been abducted for marriage but now feared for her safety as her marriage was against her parents’ wishes.

At this point, the bench ordered Additional Advocate General Rab Nawaz Khan, who was present, to provide the couple protection. The court also quashed the FIR filed by Bushra’s father against them.

On June 13, the father of a girl in Shangla accused four policemen and three others of kidnapping his daughter, who countered his accusation by telling the press she had eloped out of choice.

An FIR had been filed, however, the couple had presented their marriage certificate in front of a magistrate who then allowed them to continue living together.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2014.