PESHAWAR, March 26: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench on Monday granted interim pre-arrest bail to a Russian woman in a theft case filed by her estranged Pakistani husband and asked her to furnish personal surety bond worth of Rs20,000 for it.Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan later fixed hearing into the case for April 2 directing police not to arrest the petitioner, Kristina Petrochenkova, and provide her with security.

Ms Petrochenkova had claimed she had been facing threats from her husband, Ikramullah, since she had sought divorce.

Her lawyer, Attiqur Rehman, told the court that his client married Ikramullah in Thailand after converting to Islam in 2005 and that her new name was Parveen.

He said Ikramullah got an FIR registered against her client on March 19, 2012, accusing her of stealing around Rs1.25 million and 30 tolas gold ornaments.

The lawyer said of late, Ms Petrochenkova filed a lawsuit with the court for dissolution of marriage over strained relations with her husband and thereafter, her husband send armed men to her University Town house, where they bullied and badly handled her and took away her passport and identity card.

Also in the day, the same bench transferred a kidnapping case from Kohat to Karak district at the written request of a woman, who recently married a man against her family's desire.

Samina Bibi, who showed up along with her father-in-law, Adil Badshah, told the court that she married Kamran Adil, a resident of Takhte Nusrati in Karak district, out of her free will to the annoyance of her family, which got a false case of her kidnapping registered with police against her husband.

She said she and her husband had been facing threat to their life and their case might be transferred from Kohat to Karak.

The court transferred the case to Karak directing the district and sessions judge to complete hearing into the case within four months.