By Khalid Hasnain
KHANEWAL: A girl living in local shelter house (Darul Amaan) on court orders resisted her handing over to Mirpur police of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in a theft case lodged by her parents allegedly to avenge her love marriage.
The 20-year-old’s courage compelled the superintendent of the shelter house, Fauzia Barkat, to refuse to directly hand over her custody to the Mirpur police team despite sessions courtÂ’s implicit directions to “deal the matter in accordance with law” and instead she called the city police to resolve the issue.
Later, District Police Officer Kamran Khan told Dawn that they intervened on the superintendentÂ’s request and decided that the girl would remain in the shelter house till the sessions court issued fresh yet explicit orders possibly on Wednesday (today).
Muhammad Irfan, of Kabirwala, married Shahzadi Bibi, of Mirpur, in an Islamabad court in February this year after developing a telephonic friendship.
Shahzadi’s parents got a kidnapping case registered against Irfan with Mirpur police in March and succeeded in getting the girl recovered and Irfan arrested from Kabirwala.
They also forcibly procured Shahzadi’s signatures on divorce papers. However, the girl testified in the court concerned that she married Irfan for love and wanted living with him instead of her parents on which Irfan was acquitted in the case. However, Shahzadi’s parents lodged a theft case against the couple for stealing gold ornaments and cash about 15 days ago.
In the meantime, Irfan had brought his wife to Khanewal and got her admitted to the shelter house with permission of the local sessions court after allegedly receiving life threats from the girl’s parents and other family members.
On Tuesday, the Mirpur police led by a sub-inspector arrived here to arrest Shahzadi in the theft case after obtaining ‘permission’ from the sessions court. But the girl refused to go with the police and started raising hue and cry.
After a brief argument between the Mirpur police and the shelter house staff, the superintendent called the city police for help as the court directions were not clear and exact. The local police enforced a status quo till the sessions court issued unambiguous orders about the fate of the girl on Wednesday. Irfan’s whereabouts were not known till the filing of this report on Tuesday night.
“I want to go only with my husband (Irfan) and not with anyone, including my parents. They will kill me and I don’t want to lose my life,” Shahzadi later told Dawn. She said she had married Irfan with her free will but her parents were implicating her in false criminal cases to avenge her marriage by choice.
Ms Fauzia said she wanted handing over Shahzadi to the Mirpur police in compliance of court orders, though very vague, but Shahzadi resisted on which she called the city police to resolve the issue.
Source: Dawn
Date:5/19/2010
