PESHAWAR, May 18: A girl, allowed bail by a court few days ago, has to remain in prison as she is not having sureties to submit bail bonds on her behalf.

The Peshawar High Court had granted bail to the girl, Fatima, arrested under the Hudood Ordinance, on May 2 and directed that she should be released after furnishing bail bonds of Rs1,00,000 with two sureties each.

The accused-applicant was charged by her brother, Mohiuddin, in an FIR registered on Oct 5, 2000, at police station A Division, Mardan, under section 11 and 16 of the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979.

The applicant had left her residence as she was unhappy with her engagement with a person, Gulab Khan, who had two wives.

The police charged her of eloping with the same person with whom she was unwilling to marry. The co-accused, Gulab, had not been arrested to the day, whereas the girl had to remain in prison.

Her bail applications were earlier dismissed by the Mardan district and sessions judge and the concerned judicial magistrate.

Advocate Waqas Yousaf, running a free legal aid cell for destitute women, had appeared for the applicant and contended that she was victimized by her family members and the police.

He stated that it was surprising that the girl was implicated by the police and her family in a case of elopement with a person with whom she did not want to marry.

The applicant had claimed that after leaving her residence she was serving as housemaid with a family in Peshawar. She claimed that neither she eloped with Gulab nor she was abducted by him, rather she left her residence in protest against her engagement.

At the time of occurrence the applicant was 16. Under the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO), 2000, every person below 18 years of age is considered a juvenile offender. However, the Zina Ordinance is in conflict with the JJSO as a female who is 16 or has attained puberty is considered an adult.