PESHAWAR, May 11: District and Sessions Judge Shahjehan Khan Akhundzada on Thursday handed over an infant girl to her Christian mother, taking her off the custody of her Muslim grandmother.

The court observed in its ruling that the girl was still a “suckling” and needed her mother’s immediate attention.

The court accepted a habeas corpus application filed by the girl’s mother Tina Jawed under section 491 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The petitioner said that her daughter, Parkha, was in illegal custody of her paternal grandmother and they had not been handing her over to the applicant. The applicant was married to a Muslim boy named Fareedon last year.

Advocate Haji Fida Gul appeared for Fareedon and his family and contended that the application was not maintainable as the present case was not that of habeas corpus. He added that the instant case was of the nature of guardianship and it should be decided by the guardian judge.

Mr Gul pointed out that Tina had embraced Islam last year and married Fareedon. According to him, Sheikhul Hadith Maulana Hassan Jan performed their nikah last year after the woman converted to Islam. However, he added that differences arose between the couple as the woman used to visit a church despite her conversion to Islam.

The petitioner had stated earlier that the girl was too small and she should be given in her custody.