PESHAWAR, Aug 13: The Peshawar High Court on Friday sought record in a petition seeking cancellation of the bail granted by a lower court to four people in the murder case of a 10-year-old girl.

A single bench comprising Justice Saleem Khan took up for preliminary hearing the petition filed by complainant Inamullah, a maternal uncle of the girl, Haleema.

The court issued the order after Mr Inamullah’s advocate Wilayat Shah Bukhari presented his arguments. A non-governmental organisation, Wagma, has been looking after the case and has filed the instant petition on behalf of the complainant.

Mr Bukhari argued that circumstantial evidence supported the prosecution’s version. He said the accused were involved in the murder and added that the subordinate court had erred in granting bail to the accused.

PHC Chief Justice Tariq Pervez had taken a suo motu notice of the occurrence and summoned the concerned police officers. The chief justice had already issued various directives to police in the case.

Haleema was killed on May 31 at the Fatho Abdurahemia village on the outskirts of Peshawar. Her family claimed that she had gone to the nearby residence of Muhammad Ayub for fetching water, but she did not return. They said the villagers found her body in a small orchard between her home and that of Ayub.

Police had arrested Shamim, wife of Ayub, his daughter Muneba, and his nephews Shakeel and Aurangzeb. They were granted bail by a local court.

Main accused Sawab Gul, brother of Shamim, and Ayub had absconded.

Shakeel had reportedly stated before the police that the girl had been killed at their residence. However, he retracted from the statement before the court of a local magistrate.

Police believed the girl had witnessed some immoral act being committed in Ayub’s house and was killed by the accused in order to hide it.