KARACHI: A judicial magistrate has handed over the custody of a teenage Christian girl, said to be a victim of forced conversion and underage marriage, to her parents.

Judicial Magistrate (West) Zarmina Laghari passed this order on the application filed by Munawar Masih seeking custody of his 13-year-old daughter.

His counsel, Luke Victor, submitted that the suspect, Noman, had allegedly abducted his client’s teenage daughter from his house in Saeedullah Goth on Dec 27 last year in the absence of family members.

He further submitted that the suspect had lured his daughter and illegally solemnised marriage with her.

The counsel said the victim was a student of grade-VIII, whose age was 13 years as per the birth registration certificate issued by the National Database and Registration Authority and enrolment document of the school.

During the hearing, Investigating Officer Jameel Ahmed produced the teenage girl after recovering her from the custody of her purported husband.

The complainant’s counsel moved an application asking the court to hand over the custody of the child to her father for being her lawful guardian.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2023