KARACHI: A sessions’ court granted bail to the main accused in a case pertaining to marriage of an underage Christian girl, who was allegedly abducted and raped after being forcibly converted to Islam.

The suspect, along with his three relatives, has been charged with forcibly solemnising the marriage with the 13-year-old girl.

They, along with local cleric Qazi Mufti Ahmed Jaan Raheemi, have been booked under Sections 3 (punishment for male contracting party), 4 (punishment for solemnising a child marriage) and 5 (punishment for parent or guardian concerned in a child marriage) of the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013.

The prime suspect, whose three bail applications were earlier dismissed for lacking merit, had moved a fourth application seeking grant of bail after his arrest.

The additional district and sessions’ judge (West), Gul Zamir Solangi, pronounced his verdict reserved after hearing arguments on the bail plea.

He granted post-arrest bail to the suspect subject to furnishing a surety of Rs100,000 on the ground that the judgment in the case was not being pronounced which was against the fundamental rights of the accused.

Earlier, the applicant’s counsel Mohammad Riaz Abbasi argued in the bail plea that the trial had already been concluded, but the announcement of the judgment was being delayed by the relevant court due to absconding of the co-accused. The judge observed that delay on the part of the other accused persons, who were purportedly still absconding, would go in favour of the present accused since he could not suffer for delay caused by others.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2021