November 01, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 8, 1427

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HYDERABAD, Oct 31: A division bench of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, on Tuesday released a Taxila girl who had married a man against the wishes of her parents, upon submission of a surety for Rs50,000 before the additional registrar of the court and restrained police officials from harassing the girl.

The court, directed the girl, Haleema, to appear before the medical board as per earlier order. The board shall submit its report on November 8 when the petitioner will be present in the court.

The division bench, comprising Mr.Justice Mohammad Moosa K.Leghari and Mr.Justice Maqbool Baqar, was informed by the Additional Advocate General (AAG) Sindh, Masood A.Noorani, that no harassment of any kind had been caused to the petitioner in the past nor anything would be done against her in future.

He said that any action, if required to be taken, would be strictly in accordance with law.

The court had already directed the director-general health services, Sindh, on October 12, to constitute a medical board to ascertain the age the girl.

The girl was ordered to be kept in Darul Aman.

An order to this effect was passed on a constitutional petition, filed by Ms.Haleema, praying that her statement should be recorded and she and her husband should be provided legal protection by the court against high-handedness of her parents and respondent police officials.

“I will persuade my parents and I am not worried about the facts that my husband is already married”, a beaming Haleema told newsmen in court’s premises.

She described her release from Darul Aman as a victory of love. Her husband, Ghulam Mohammad Leghari, smilingly said that he will keep his both wives in Hyderabad.

In her petition, she had requested the court to direct respondent policemen not to harass her and her husband or his relatives.

She said that she had married Ghulam Mohammad Leghari, a resident of Tando Allahyar and she had submitted and affidavit before the civil judge and judicial magistrate-II, Hyderabad, declaring that her nikah was performed after she started living in the Mehar Ali Shah village.

She said that her parents were influential people and they wanted to marry to someone else and she refused adding that her parents got annoyed with her marriage and were trying to get her separated from her husband by using influence through DPOs of Tando Allahyar and Tando Mohammad Khan.

She apprehended her separation from her husband because SHOs of police stations of Chambar, Tando Allahyar and Tando Mohammad Khan, without any lawful authorities, were conducting raids to arrest her husband due to the influence of her parents.

She said that SHO of police stations Chambar and Tando Allahyar detained nine relatives of her husband at the instigation of her parents. Mohammad Tasaduq Hashmi, Haleema’s father, had become intervener, saying that on August 21, some men had kidnapped his daughter, who is a minor.

He added that on August 23, an FIR was lodged but he came to know that she was residing in Badin.

He said that the ‘culprits’ escaped from there and later he came to know that they got an affidavit signed and her nikah performed with Ghulam Mohammad Leghari while mentioning her name as Saeeda.

He said that later the ‘culprits’ shifted to Hyderabad and then got filed petition by her daughter, levelling baseless allegations against him.