KARACHI, Aug 8: A bench of the High Court of Sindh comprising Justice Muhammed Sadiq Leghari on Friday disposed of a bail application with the direction to the trial court to record evidence of all prosecution witnesses within six months.

The bail plea was moved by Ms Razia, arrested for alleged abduction of four-year-old Iqbal in the Zoological Garden on Jan 3, 2001.

According to the prosecution, the kidnapped boy was recovered from the house of the accused after seven months, on July 30, 2001. The victim later in his statement under section 164 CrPC told the court that he was tortured, his head shaved off and was forced to beg for alms.

The accused was then booked under Section 364/368-A, PPC by Garden police.

Earlier the accused preferred a bail application before the trial court (ADJ, South, Mr Farooq Ali Channa) which was dismissed on April 14 after which she moved the SHC for bail.

When her bail plea came up for hearing, counsel for the petitioner agitated the ground of statutory delay maintaining that she had been behind bars for more than two years. She sheltered the boy on humanitarian grounds as a missing child, counsel for the applicant pleaded.

Ms Akhtar Rehana, counsel for the state, vehemently opposed the bail plea and said although the accused was a women, her alleged crime fell in the prohibitory clause and she was not entitled to any concession of bail for being a women as it was a heinous crime.

The bench after hearing the sides directed the trial court to proceed with the trial and to record evidence of all the prosecution witnesses within six months.

The same bench dismissed bail application of Abdul Salam booked by Quaidabad police under section 18 of the Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance.

According to the prosecution, the accused tried to molest Baby M (8) on May 5.—APP