Police told to protect freewill couples
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday directed the police to provide protection to a freewill marriage couple and issued notices to the respondents for July 22.
Petitioners Samreen and Shahid, residents of Larkana, submitted that they got married after she executed a freewill certificate before a first-class magistrate on May 24.
They said the woman’s parents wanted to marry her off to an old man for money, but she resisted it and married Shahid.
They stated that a brother of the woman, Mansoor Ali, in collusion with police had lodged a case (FIR 93/10) under Section 365-B (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel for marriage, etc.) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) at the Civil Lines police station in Larkana against Shahid and feared that if he was arrested, the complainant party would kill him.
The petitioners added that they had also approached the relevant district police officer and others in this regard, but the law-enforcers refused to entertain their plea.
They cited the home secretary, the district police officer of Kamber Shahdadkot, the SHO and SIO of the Civil Lines police station and Mansoor Ali as respondents.
They requested the court to bar the police from arresting Shahid and to direct the DPO to ensure protection to life and liberty of the couple and to ask the SIO to record the statement of the woman in the office of the additional advocate-general, and dispose of the FIR.
The division bench of the SHC comprising Justices Maqbool Baqar and Tufail H. Ebrahim put the respondents on notice and directed the police to provide protection to the couple.
Another couple
The same bench on Thursday told the police to ensure protection to another freewill couple and also put the respondents on notice for July 9.
According to a petition moved by Babli, she left Sukkur with Mir Hasan Sheikh and solemnised nikah in Karachi on June 21. However, her father, Shahzado, lodged a case under Section 365-B of the PPC at the New Pind police station, Sukkur, and her parents and relatives had also took her in-laws into custody and were harassing them.
The petitioners further submitted that they had been declared Karo-kari, and requested the court to provide them protection and any criminal case registered against them be treated as fake.
She impleaded the regional police officer of Sukkur, the DIG of Sukkur, the town police officer and the SHO of the New Pind police station as respondents.
Source: Dawn
Date:7/2/2010
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