PESHAWAR, Aug 1: Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Tariq Pervez Khan on Tuesday took suo motu notice of the drowning of a girl in an open manhole and directed the city district administration to cover all holes and drains.

The chief justice has also taken notice of the mysterious death of a married woman in Nowshera district and ordered the district and sessions judge to immediately conduct an inquiry.

Justice Khan has taken the action under Article 199 of the Constitution after publication of numerous news items regarding the two incidents.

The woman, Sajida Gul, had died under mysterious circumstances some days back at Gulshanabad area and apparently the cause of her death was suicide. However, her mother and brothers had blamed her in-laws and alleged that she was killed as she was treated harshly after her marriage.

The chief justice directed the Nowshera district and sessions judge, Saleem Khan Minakhel, to take all the relevant record of the case into his custody and conduct a thorough inquiry.

In the other incident, Fakria Gul, 6, had fallen in an open drain on the busy University Road on July 29.

The chief justice ordered Peshawar City District Nazim Haji Ghulam Ali to cover all the manholes and drains in his jurisdiction within a week. Justice Khan warned that in case of failing to do so legal action would be taken against the nazim and other officials concerned.

Father of the girl, Saeedullah, is a poor fruit vendor whose stall was situated on the University road. The girl had gone to her father and was returning home when she fell in the open drain which was overflowing with rain water and not visible.

Her swollen body surfaced a day later in a canal at Babu Garhi area.

The inhabitants of the area had blocked the road as a protest against her killing, stating that despite their repeated requests to cover the open drains and manholes in the area, the authorities including the district and town nazims and officials of the City Development and Municipal Department remained unmoved.

There are numerous open manholes and drains on the University road. The pavements on both sides of the road have been constructed over drains, and at various points the pavements are worn and broken.