A sessions court on Wednesday granted bail to Shah Rukh Najeeb, who was detained in Punjab for allegedly abducting Nimra Kazmi, a girl from Karachi and marrying her at an early age.
Kazmi went missing from her Saudaabad home in April and later came out in Dera Ghazi Khan claiming that she had an independent marriage with Najeeb.
Recent cases of Dua Zahra’s disappearance – a teenager who went missing from Karachi’s Shah Faesal Colony on April 16 and was recovered from Bahawalnagar on June 5 – and Kazmi from Karachi and her alleged marriages in Punjab have exposed Sindh and Punjab Police. Had given. The debate sparked severe criticism on social media and poor enforcement of laws prohibiting the marriage of girls under the age of 18.
On 8 June the Sindh High Court ruled that Zehra was free to decide her fate.
In Kazmi’s case, Najeeb was arrested from Lahore on charges of kidnapping the girl from Karachi and “marrying” her in April.
The detained suspect today filed an application before Additional District and Sessions Judge (South) Faiza Khalil seeking bail and his subsequent release from jail.
While granting post-arrest bail on a surety of Rs 50,000, the judge asked the applicant to cooperate with the police in the investigation.
Earlier, defense counsel Muhammad Farooq argued that the girl had left her parents’ home in Karachi and moved to Lahore, where she married Najeeb of her own free will without any fear or pressure.
They contended that while recording her statement before a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the girl had not only denied the allegation of abduction by Najeeb of her parents, but also of being with and living with her husband. was also decided. An adult of 18 years.
Farooq further argued that since their marriage took place in Punjab, where sections of the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013 were not applicable, adding Section 365-B (kidnapping with intent to rape) and Section 3/4 of the Pakistan Penal Code In the present case the Sindh Child Marriage Prohibition Act, 2013 was not applicable.
He requested bail to the applicant, who was behind bars since his arrest from Taunsa Sharif in early May and later remanded to judicial custody at Landhi jail. The lawyer said that his client’s continued detention violated his rights to personal liberty and liberty enshrined in the Constitution.
The state prosecutor opposed the plea, alleging that the statement of the girl recorded before the Lahore magistrate was under coercion and coercion, and thus, it could not absolve the suspect from the charge of kidnapping.
He argued that the Sindh Marriage Prohibition Act, 2013 was applicable in the case and asked the judge to dismiss the bail plea.