KARACHI: A Sindh High Court (SHC) bench has directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate affairs of all the orphanage centres and examine their record regarding marriages of the orphans there.

The single-judge bench headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar expressed concerns over a report that the marriages of young girls living in an orphanage centre were being arranged without their consent and no record was maintained regarding such weddings.

It directed the FIA director general to ascertain the present status of the married girls and whether the consent of those girls was taken. He was also asked to explore if those marriages were valid and if there was any possibility of criminal intention or human trafficking.

The bench said that in case of any illegality, all the responsible people should be taken to task while the FIA would also examine the method of adoption.

It also directed the chief secretary to ensure through social welfare officers within 15 days that all such institutions must keep the record of marriages and grooms and allow the girls to choose their future lives.

At the outset of the hearing, an amicus curia through a report, regarding his visit along with other members of the team to Edhi orphanage centre, informed the bench that the girls were being kept in a common class without proper facilities and used as servants.

The report also contended that the woman in charge, who was living with her daughter in a separate facility adjacent to the orphanage centre, took decisions about the marriages of girls without their consent and the record of such marriages was not available.

The bench in its order said that admittedly there was no record regarding the shifting of 25 girls and the manner in which orphanage centre had been pictured to be a place of two different classes, where decisions of lives of the abandoned girls were taken solely by the management, was nothing but an infringement of the guarantee they were always entitled to.

The shelter homes must always ensure complete and transparent record of proper, safe and dignified life for such girls/women. Their efforts in arranging marriages needed to be appreciated, but only if those were valid marriages, it added.

With regard to the endowment fund, the deputy director of the finance department contended that Rs1 billion had been allocated in the current budget for higher education and such amount would be released in favour of the school education department preferably within one month.

At this juncture, the additional secretary endowment fund contended that trust deed was yet to be registered and amount as received would be invested in accordance with law without any delay.

The secretary social welfare department filed a compliance report with regard to the pilot project for accommodation of such women and children and said that the department had serious concerns about the minutes of the second meeting of a committee supposed to finalise the project.

The report contended that the meeting was only attended by six members out of the 13 of the committee and in the first meeting attended by majority members, it was unanimously decided that instead of establishing two different pilot projects at two different places, those might be set up at one place by utilising the second floor of the social welfare complex in Malir which was currently available.

However, in the second meeting, the committee changed its earlier decision and resolved to occupy the entire social welfare complex.

The bench directed the chief secretary to resolve within one month that issue and ensure the compliance of the orders passed by the SHC as well as decision of the committee passed in the first meeting.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2020