Court tells girl to meet both parties separately without any pressure. DESIGN: JAHANZAIB HAQUE
Once Anjali, whose Muslim name is Salma, refused to go with her parents, the court passed the ruling. Earlier, the bench asked her to meet her parents and her husband separately, without any pressure or fear.
This bench was assigned the case after another division bench, comprising justices Ahmed Ali M Sheikh and Syed Muhammad Farooq Shah, declined to further proceed with the matter after the girl expressed no confidence in them.
Case history
The matter was taken to court by the girl's father, Kundandas Meghwar, who claimed that his 12-year-old daughter was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam. He accused the Ghotki police of not taking action against the culprits.
He accused the police of helping the culprits by not producing the girl before the court on time and giving a chance to the respondent party to destroy the evidence against them and to prepare documents in favour of their baseless version.
He had pleaded the court declare Anjali as underage, which would mean that no statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure could be recorded. He also requested that, if her statement was necessary, then a judicial magistrate in Karachi be authorised to record it. He also demanded the constitution of a medical board for her examination.
Kidnapping case
Meanwhile, another petition was filed by the mother of Riaz Ahmed Sial, who is the spouse of Anjali. The petitioner submitted that her son had married Salma, who converted to Islam with her freewill but the police had implicated him in a false kidnapping case. She had sought quashing of the case against her son by the Ghotki police.
No-confidence
In a rare move, the two judges had on December 2 declined to further proceed with the matter as the girl claimed that the Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah was trying to influence the court proceedings to get an order in favour of her father. The SHC chief justice had assigned the case to another division bench.
Ruling
On Wednesday, the members of new bench asked the girl to hold separate meetings with her husband and parents that lasted for around half-an-hour each. After the meetings, Anjali stated on oath that she was not converted and married under duress.
The girl said she wanted to live with her husband whom she married out of her own will.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2015.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
(1) The courts, not to disappoint the muslim population, have found a way to hand back the kidnaped girl back to her kidnaper. There are laws in Sindh that makes it a punishable crime not only for the person marrying a minor but also makes it a punishable crime for all those who assist the marriage. Yet, the courts and judges sent this girl to confinement in an islamic institution and did not allow her parents even to speak to her or meet her. This 12 year old girl would have been threatened and coerced with dire consequences not only for her but also her family and forced to say whatever the muslims wanted. The courts and judges themselves threw away their own laws, the laws of the land. They punished the girl and her family who ar victims and let free the culprits.
(2) There is another news in ET today that says that the government is enacting laws to punish hate speeches. Would shias and ahmedies get any protection from these laws and will those laws ever be enforced?
(3) For over 60 years muslims of Pakistan have been forcing hindu and christian girls to recite Kalma and raping them as soon as they have finished their recitation. Now supreme muslims have arrived in the form of tailbans and Daish and they forced the school children in Peshawar to recite Kalma and shot them as soon as they finished their recitation.
Allah is not going reward muslims only because they read Koran or recite Kalma if their Karma is bad. Koran says that remaining silent on evils is supporting those evil. Those who stand in silence and render silent support today will themselves be silenced sooner or later by someone else and at that time they will have no one to call in their support.