PESHAWAR, June 20: A single bench of the Peshawar High Court on Friday dismissed bail plea of a couple arrested under the Hudood law.

The accused, Ajmal Khan and Shaista, were arrested in May after their pre-arrest bail petition was rejected by an additional district and sessions judge in district Swabi.

The High Court’s bench headed by Justice Malik Hamid Saeed observed that Ms Shaista was under-age for marriage.

The accused couple argued that they had entered into wedlock exercising their free will and had not committed any crime.

The grandfather of the girl, Raza Khan, had lodged an FIR on Feb 19 in Swabi, accusing Ajmal Khan of abducting his granddaughter. He claimed that his granddaughter had been missing since Feb 14.

The accused was charged under section 10 and 15 of the Offence of Zina Ordinance, 1979.

Later on, the accused couple filed a pre-arrest bail application before the court of an additional district and sessions judge, stating that Mr Ajmal had not abducted the girl.

Advocate Shahabuddin Burq appeared before the High Court on behalf of the complainant and argued that the couple could not enter into marriage as the girl was only 13 years old. To substantiate the argument, he produced a school certificate of Ms Shaista, endorsing her age.

He added that Ms Shaista was already married to her relative, Arab Ali, and thus could not enter into another marriage.

Advocate Fazal Ilahi appeared for the accused and argued that the girl had attained puberty and was mature enough to exercise her free will in marrying a person. He refuted the complainant’s claim that the girl had already been married to another person.