Peshawar HC grants bail to man in Hindu girl abduction case

INTERNATIONAL DESK: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench has granted bail to a man accused of kidnapping a Hindu girl for marriage a few days ago.

Justice Syed M Attique Shah accepted the bail petition of the prime accused in the case, Ubaidur Rehman, on the condition of furnishing two surety bonds of Rs100,000 each.

A few days ago, an additional district and sessions judge had granted bail to seven co-accused in the case but turned down the plea of the main accused prompting him to move the high court for release on bail.

An FIR was registered at the East Cantonment police station here on Dec 20 on the complaint of a Hindu woman, Shakuntla Bibi, who had accused the petitioner and his alleged facilitators of kidnapping her adopted daughter.

The case was registered under the Pakistan Penal Code’s Section 365-B (kidnapping of a woman to compel her for marriage).

Following the registration of FIR, the local police had recovered the girl from Rawalpindi and arrested eight suspects.

The complainant had adopted the girl and her brother in 2006 when they were infants.

Advocate Asfandyar Khan appeared for the petitioner and contended that his client had not kidnapped the girl and that she had gone away with his client of her own free will.

He said the girl also told the magistrate that she wasn’t kidnapped and instead, she had left home on her own.

The lawyer said seven of the suspects named in the case had already been released on the bail granted by the subordinate court.

He argued that his client was implicated in a fake case as the girl had never been kidnapped and that he was entitled to the concession of bail.

The complainant’s counsel opposed the bail petition and said the ‘abductee’ was a minor girl and her kidnapping for the purpose of marriage was a heinous offence.

He argued that the petitioner was already married and had two children.

The lawyer argued that the girl’s statement was recorded under duress as she was influenced by the suspects.

He said the girl was a minor child, so forcing her into marriage was a crime.

The counsel said the petitioner was directly named in the FIR and the girl was recovered from his custody.

He added that the complainant had adopted the girl and her brother and had been taking care of them for 15 years. (Dawn)