LAHORE, July 8: A special division bench of the Lahore High Court is to solicit on Friday the opinion of German national Hira Jessica Shafiq if she wants to continue her marriage with a Pakistani youth.
The special session of the bench, comprising Justices Syed Tasaddaq Husain Jilani and Saeed Akhtar, was called after the girl requested the court on Thursday to give her a few days to firm up her opinion over her marriage.
The girl made the request after a meeting with her parents for about an hour upon a court permission. Later, she informed the court that she still stuck to her decision that she would keep her marriage intact and go with her husband, Musa Mahmood. Yet, she wanted three to four days to make up her mind. The court allowed her a day's time.
The court is adjudicating an inter-court appeal, filed by Akif Shafiq, the uncle of the girl who contracted her marriage without the consent of parents. She had been living with her appellant uncle after her parents settled in Germany.
German-born Hira Jessica, a first-year student of the Government College for Women, Gulberg, did not return home on June 12. In the evening, Musa informed Jessica's uncle on phone that she had married him.
The appellant submitted that she was 17 years of age at the time of her marriage, which was an offence under the laws of Germany (where 18 years are fixed). The violation might invite Germany's proceedings at the state level that could malign Pakistan, he said.
According to the appeal, filed through Advocate Mian Mohammad Imran Idrees, the Gulshan-i-Iqbal police took no steps to recover "the minor from the illegal custody of Musa". It submitted that the nikahnama was fabricated and the girl abducted.
When the appellant sent an application to the police for the registration of an abduction case, Musa filed a writ petition with the LHC saying the police were harassing them. At the same time, Akif's brother sought the registration of a case against Musa on the charge of abduction.
A single bench of the high court, comprising Justice Abdur Rashid Sheikh, accepted the petition when the couple produced nikahnama and the evidence of Hira having attained puberty. The court declared on June 14 their marriage legal and directed the police not to interfere in their matrimonial life.-Correspondent
