HYDERABAD, Nov 14: The Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court on Tuesday granted bail to a newly-wed Leghari couple who faced charges under Zina Hudood Ordinance and restrained police and the girl’s relatives from harassing them.

In a constitutional petition filed by Abdullah and his wife Zahida, which cited DPO of Tando Allahyar, SP investigations of Sanghar, SHO of Sinjhoro police station, Rais Sadiq and five others as respondents, the couple complained to the court that they feared for their lives as they had been made victims of old traditions and outdated customs.

They said that Ms Zahida’s father had engaged her three years ago to one Abdullah before he suffered paralysis and became bed-ridden. The same year her mother died and their marriage could not take place, leaving her in the care of her paternal uncle, Sobdar Khan and her elder brother Khalid, they said.

Three years after the death of Zahida’s mother Abdullah approached her brother and asked him to solemnise the marriage but he avoided it on one or another pretext.

The petitioners said that the respondent Rais Sadiq, a self-proclaimed chief of their community, and his henchmen who were unhappy over their engagement helped Ms Zahida’s uncle Sobdar Khan in forcing her to marry his son Shahnawaz against her wishes 20 days ago.

"They threatened that she would be murdered on the charge of karo-kari if she refused to accept the proposal," the petition stated. Fearing for her life Ms Zahida left her home and came to Abdullah. The couple then left for Hyderabad where Ms Zahida filed an affidavit in the court of civil judge and judicial magistrate-II stating that she had married Abdullah of her own free will on Sept 23. The same day they tied the knot by nikah, they said.

The news about their marriage annoyed Ms Zahida’s uncle and his relatives and on September 26, Rais Sadiq held a jirga which declared the petitioners as karo-kari and allegedly hired men to kill them. The SHO of Sinjhoro police station raided their houses in Haji Ibrahim Leghari village of Chambar taluka and forced Abdullah’s parents to hand over Zahida to Rais Sadiq and his men.

On Oct 4, Zahida’s uncle and her brother filed a case in the Sinjhoro police station under the Hudood Ordinance against Abdullah, his brother Dhani Bux Leghari and Dur Mohammad Leghari, alleging that on Sept 23 Abdullah and his men kidnapped Zahida who had married Shahnawaz four months ago, they said.