Free-will couple wins court ruling | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Free-will couple wins court ruling

KARACHI, Sept 9: A district and sessions judge on Tuesday disposed of an application filed by the father of a teenaged girl for the recovery of his daughter allegedly kidnapped by her cousin and allowed the girl to go with her cousin.

The girl’s father, Mohammad Maskeen, in an application submitted in court, had alleged that his nephew, Jahanzeb, with the help of his friends had kidnapped his daughter, Nadia, a student of Class X, from their native town in district Mansehra while she was on her way to school on July 22.

The applicant said that he came to know on Aug 28 that Jahanzeb along with his associates, Ali Jan, Sawar and Abdul Rahman, had taken his daughter to Karachi and detained her in Umer Farooq Colony in Shahrah-i-Noor Jehan police limits. He said he reached Karachi on Aug 31 and made efforts for the recovery of his daughter but to no avail and therefore moved the court. The applicant said that Jahanzeb wanted to marry Nadia but he opposed the matrimonial alliance as Jahanzeb was Nadia’s foster bother.

Appearing before the judge on Tuesday, Nadia deposed that she had willingly married Jahanzeb. She said her parents were against the marriage.

Earlier her cousin, the alleged kidnapper, told court that they married of their own accord on July 23 and produced relevant documents in the court to support his statement. His counsel had requested the judge to dispose of the petition.

The petitioner’s counsel, Shahbaz Sahotra, however, argued that the credibility of the documents could not be determined without a proper verification. He said the marriage was invalid under the injunction of Islam since Jahanzeb was a foster brother of the victim.

The applicant was directed to record his statement on Tuesday and produce evidence to prove his claim that his daughter was a foster sister of Jahanzeb. However, he did not turn up on Tuesday.

Due to the absence of the applicant and in view of the statements of the respondent as well as the victim that they married of their own accord, the judge disposed of the application and allowed the girl to go with her cousin.

DesignerÂ’s case

A civil judge and judicial magistrate, south, remanded two brothers in judicial custody till Sept 10 for their alleged involvement in the murder case of a fashion designer.

According to the prosecution, the bullet-riddled body of fashion designer Sheikh Amir Hussain, son of Javed Hussain, was found in the small hours of Aug 30 inside his house, where he was living alone.Police tracked down the suspects, 20-year-old Mohammad Saad Farooqui and 23-year-old Amir Hamza Awan, with the help of the deceasedÂ’s cellular phone record on Sept 3. A murder case (FIR No 215/2008) was registered under Section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code at Clifton police station on the complaint of the deceased’s brother, Jalal Hussain.

The investigators claimed that Ameer Hamza during the preliminary interrogations had disclosed that he with his brother’s help killed Sheikh Amir as the deceased had sexually abused him by giving a heavy dose of tranquillizers in juice, adding that he had met Amir around three years ago. Since then they had become friends and the deceased had offered to make him a model. The weapon used in the murder was also recovered, they added.

The investigation officer had requested the court through an application to record the statements of witnesses under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. However, witnesses could not be testified since the investigation officer did not provide the statements of the suspects recorded by the police under Section 161 of the CrPC. Judge Mohammad Umer Awan directed the investigation officer to submit the suspects’ statements and adjourned the hearing till Wednesday.
Source: Dawn
Date:9/10/2008