25 April 2004	Sunday	04 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

PESHAWAR, April 24: A female juvenile offender, granted bail by a local court last week, has to remain in prison as she could not produce guarantors on her behalf.

The bail petition of Ms Naseema, 14, was accepted by an additional district and sessions judge on April 17 and it was ordered that she be released from prison after furnishing two sureties of Rs2,00,000 each.

The girl and her sister, Ms Rubina, 16, were arrested by the local police on charges of drug pushing. They were booked under the Control of Narcotics Substance Act.

The two sisters are among dozens of such minor girls who are used by organized gangs of drug traffickers for drug pushing in the country.

At present, in contravention of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, 2000, and the rules framed thereunder, the two sisters have been kept along with adult women prisoners. In the absence of a borstal institution in the province, female juvenile offenders are kept along with adult prisoners.

The two sisters were arrested by the police on Oct 13, 2003, when they were travelling in a car bearing registration No LOG 6373.

When the police managed to stop the car the driver made good his escape whereas the two sisters were arrested. The police allegedly recovered 30kgs of charas concealed in secret cavities of the car.

Both the sisters belonged to a poor family. According to them, their father and brother were killed by their rivals. Their another brother is a drug addict and now they and their mother and another sister need to work as domestic servants for making both ends meet.

As they had no money, the petitioner's mother had requested the free legal aid cell of 'The Voice of Prisoners' to plead her case.

On the request of the organization, the court had ordered medical examination of the girl, which proved that her age is 14 and she is a juvenile offender.

Both the sisters claimed that they had no knowledge about the presence of contraband in the car.

Naseema's mother said that they were poor people and they had no guarantors who could file surety bonds on her behalf. She added that the court concerned had been asking for such guarantors who could produce documents of properties worth more than Rs2,00,000.

"From where could I arrange such guarantors when I belong to a poor family?" she posed a query.