Karachi court issues warrants for cleric in case involving rape, abduction & illicit marriage

[MenInG]

A Karachi court has taken cognisance of the marriage of an underage Christian girl, who was allegedly abducted and raped after being forcibly converted to Islam, it emerged on Friday.

The judge issued bailable warrants for the arrest of cleric Qazi Mufti Ahmed Jaan Raheemi — who allegedly performed the marriage of the girl when she was a teenager, her husband Muhammad Imran and his relatives Muhammad Rehan Baloch, Sundus and Azra. The suspects will be able to secure bail against a surety of Rs10,000 each, according to the judgement.

Police had booked five suspects, including two women, in a case pertaining to the alleged abduction and rape of the girl in Ittehad Town locality. The main suspect, Imran, was subsequently arrested.

The court's order came after the victim lodged a complaint against the suspects — including Imran, Baloch, Sundus, Azra and Raheemi — 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 matter came up before judicial magistrate (West) Wajid Ali Channa, who observed that the victim had recorded her statement under Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) while the statements of the witnesses had also been recorded in the case.

The judge noted that the statements of the witnesses duly supported the complainant's statement. “On careful examination of the statements recorded during preliminary inquiry, it appears that the complainant in her statement stated that she is less than 13 years [old] and she was not willing in the nikah with the accused Muhammad Imran.”

He further noted that the “nikah was solemnised without her consent under pressure, coercion and influence. Hence [...] the offence under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013, read with Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898, is prima facie made out against the accused persons namely Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Rehan, Mst Sundus, Mst Azra and Qazi Mufti Ahmed Jaan Raheemi.”

The judge further observed that under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013, the marriage of either party who is less than 18 years old is prohibited. "In the circumstances, cognisance of the offence under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013, is hereby taken. Let the private complaint be admitted and brought on regular file and registered,” he ordered.

The judge directed the court office to issue bailable warrants for the arrest of the suspects and directed the suspects to ensure their presence before the court on October 26.

The complainant was told to file a list of the witnesses and obtain certified copies of their statements. The court asked the office to also provide copies of the documentary evidence to the suspects by the next date of the hearing.

Case history
In May 2019, three of the five suspects in the cases had easily escaped from the court after an additional district and sessions judge recalled the pre-arrest bail granted to them against a surety of Rs30,000 each.

The judge had noted at the time that according to the case record, the complainant was a minor. Recording her statement before the judicial magistrate, the victim had denied accepting Islam and execution of her free will in performing her nikah with suspect Imran.

The judge further stated that “she deposed that they (suspects) forcibly obtained her signatures on plain papers and the co-accused committed zina with her.”

Initially, a case was registered under Sections 365-B (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel for marriage etc), 376 (punishment for rape), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Ittehad Town police station on the complaint of the victim.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1586630/k...-abduction-and-illicit-marriage-of-minor-girl

 

[saeedhk]

Culprits can secure a bail with just Rs 10000. This shows the value of the lives of non-Muslims in this country. Amazing!

 

[MenInG]

Culprits can secure a bail with just Rs 10000. This shows the value of the lives of non-Muslims in this country. Amazing!

Culprits are caught and identified.

The laws are laws.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

This is what happens when religion becomes a profession.

 

[ishtiaq_ctg]

Disgusting. This satan should be hanged as soon as possible.

 

[MenInG]

Islamabad, Pakistan – A Pakistani court has ordered the police to take into custody a man accused of kidnapping, forcibly converting and marrying a 13-year-old Christian child until the next hearing in the case later this week.

Azhar Ali, 44, will be presented before the Sindh High Court in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on November 5, the child’s parents’ lawyer told Al Jazeera on Tuesday. Court documents confirmed the development.

Aarzoo Raja’s parents have accused Ali of violating Pakistani laws against child marriage, and of forcibly converting their child to Islam.

“Police have confirmed that they have Azhar [Ali] in custody and they produced him in court today asking for a remand,” Jibran Nasir told Al Jazeera by telephone.

Aarzoo, 13, was taken into protective custody on Monday, authorities said, after the court ordered that she be taken to a women’s shelter pending further investigation in the case.

She has not been able to see her parents since being taken into government custody, Nasir said.

This reversal comes weeks after Aarzoo’s parents filed a complaint that Ali had kidnapped their child, forced her to convert to Islam and to marry him, in a case that sparked an uproar by rights groups in Pakistan.

In earlier hearings, the court had accepted the validity of the “marriage” after hearing that Aarzoo was over 18 years of age and had converted to Islam.

A birth certificate allegedly presented by her parents is said to show that her age is 13.

On Monday, the court reversed its position, ordering that Aarzoo be taken into protective custody at a women’s shelter until the matter could be conclusively investigated.

Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari tweeted that Aarzoo had been recovered and placed in a shelter, prompting a mixed bag of responses as some commentators praised the government’s action while others expressed their anger that more had not been done sooner.

According to UK-based rights group coalition Girls Not Brides, 21 percent of Pakistani girls are married before their 18th birthday. UN children’s rights organisation UNICEF puts the number of child brides in Pakistan at more than 1.9 million, the sixth-highest in the world

South Asia is home to 42 percent of the world’s child brides, according to a 2013 UNICEF report, with one in three of all worldwide child brides in Pakistan’s eastern neighbour, India.

Pakistani law prohibits child marriage and forcible conversion, a growing problem in the southern province of Sindh, where several high profile cases of Hindu women being allegedly forcibly converted to Islam and married to Muslim men have emerged in recent years.

Last month, however, the head of a Pakistani parliamentary panel tasked with probing those allegations said that most cases of forced conversion “have some degree of willingness on the part of the girl”.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...f-forcibly-marrying-13-year-old-girl-arrested

 

[Lurker_Ind]

This is what happens when religion becomes a profession.

It is a profession. Big money is involved in it.

 

[MenInG]

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday directed the health secretary to constitute a medical board to determine the age of Arzoo — a Christian girl whose family claim she is a minor who was allegedly abducted before being "forcefully" converted and married to a 45-year-old Muslim man.

The case came into the limelight after an earlier high court order barred Sindh police from arresting the girl's husband — Ali Azhar — in connection with a first-information report (FIR) against him and his family for "kidnapping Arzoo, forging her age, forcefully converting her to Islam and for marrying a child".

During the hearing, Arzoo had stated that she had embraced Islam out of her free choice and had solemnised a free-will marriage with Azhar without any fear or pressure.

Several human rights activists and social media users criticised the ruling as videos of the girl's mother surfaced on social media in which she is visibly distressed and crying out for her child who she claims is only 13 years old.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD

Following the outcry, the Sindh government filed an application with the court seeking clarification on its October 27 order in which authorities had been barred from arresting the man and police was directed to provide protection to the newly-wedded wife. Hearing the government's application, the court reversed its earlier order and directed the police to recover Arzoo and temporarily place her in a shelter home.

A day later, the girl was recovered while her husband and some members of his family were arrested.

During today's hearing, Arzoo reiterated that she had contracted the marriage of her own will. She also said that she had not been kidnapped and pleaded that she be allowed to leave with her husband.

However, the two-judge bench headed by Justice K.K. Agha observed that according to the documents produced before it, she was below 18 years of age and under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act 2013, nobody below 18 years can contract marriage.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD

Activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir — who is part of the legal team fighting the case on behalf of Arzoo's parents — contended that it was necessary to determine the girl's age. He also requested the court to record the girl's statement in chamber.

However, the Sindh advocate general said that the girl's statement should not be recorded as she was a minor.

Justice Agha observed that if Arzoo was 18-years-old, she had the right to marry whoever she chose. The court observed that she had said she was not kidnapped.

Barrister Salahuddin submitted a 'vakalatnama' to the court on behalf of Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD

Justice Agha said the court would proceed step-by-step and would analyse the case carefully. The bench directed the health secretary to constitute a medical board to determine the girl's age. It also directed police to keep the girl at the shelter home till Nov 9 when the case will be taken up for hearing again.

Case details

In the FIR of the case registered on the complaint of Arzoo's father, Raja, he claims that on Oct 13, he and his wife went to work while their son Shahbaz had gone to school.

Raja said his three daughters, including Arzoo, were present at their home in Karachi's Railway Colony when he received a call from a relative, who told him that Arzoo was missing.

Raja said he reached home and contacted his neighbours, but could not trace his daughter. He subsequently lodged a case regarding the abduction of his daughter against unknown persons at the Frere police station.

Arzoo's family members earlier this month told Dawn that her purported husband, Ali Azhar, lived in a house opposite theirs along with his family and he was at least 45-years-old.

"The rascal who abducted her has prepared fake papers to show that she is 18-years-old,” her mother said.

Read: Family narrates ordeal of ‘missing’ teenage daughter

Police had booked Azhar and arrested his brothers, Syed Shariq Ali, Syed Mohsin Ali, and a friend, Danish, for allegedly abducting the underage girl, purportedly forcibly converting her and marrying her to a Muslim man.

However, Arzoo had sought a court injunction against the registration of an FIR against her spouse and in-laws by her family at the Frere police station by filing a constitutional petition in the SHC.

She submitted in the petition that she converted to Islam of her free will and also asked her family members to embrace Islam but they refused.

 

[saeedhk]

Latest update:

The case was heard this morning.It is has been established that the girl is 14 years old. The court has barred the 44-year old monster from meeting the girl.

The court has directed legal action be taken against all those who forged the girl’s identity papers and against those clerics who converted her and married her off.

The girl said she does not want to go with her parents so the court has sent her to a shelter home for 2 weeks. Husband is under custody.

Next hearing is two weeks later.

 

[BreadPakoda]

Latest update:

The case was heard this morning.It is has been established that the girl is 14 years old. The court has barred the 44-year old monster from meeting the girl.

The court has directed legal action be taken against all those who forged the girl’s identity papers and against those clerics who converted her and married her off.

The girl said she does not want to go with her parents so the court has sent her to a shelter home for 2 weeks. Husband is under custody.

Next hearing is two weeks later.

What is this fetish of converting young girls to their religion that some folks have?

 

[saeedhk]

What is this fetish of converting young girls to their religion that some folks have?

Pedophilia and lust under the garb of religion. By converting teenage girls, rape and pedophilia is legalised.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

What is this fetish of converting young girls to their religion that some folks have?

Some jahil and bastar* mullahs have fed this into the heads of ultra Jahil awaam that you will automatically earn paradise if you convert someone to Islam.

The entire focus is wrong. Everyone is looking for shortcuts. There is no concept and teaching towards living a life of honesty in our day to day life matters (Diyaanut daari ki zindagi) under Islamic guidance.

Convert people into islam or take the head off of anyone suspected of blasphemy. Easy route to Jannah for munafiqs living in a county that ranks 120 on the corruption list.

 

[yasir]

Pedophilia and lust under the garb of religion. By converting teenage girls, rape and pedophilia is legalised.

Some jahil and bastar* mullahs have fed this into the heads of ultra Jahil awaam that you will automatically earn paradise if you convert someone to Islam.

The entire focus is wrong. Everyone is looking for shortcuts. There is no concept and teaching towards living a life of honesty in our day to day life matters (Diyaanut daari ki zindagi) under Islamic guidance.

Convert people into islam or take the head off of anyone suspected of blasphemy. Easy route to Jannah for munafiqs living in a county that ranks 120 on the corruption list.

Problem is you cannot fix your future and present without confronting the Past. Pedophilia, Child marriages was very common thing throughout the islamic history, goes back to the founding fathers (Prophet and Sabahas), just look at their marriages, which are reported only by Islamic sources... We put their private life under the rug and just focus on today's Mulvis, they are doing what Muslims have been doing throughout the history, its just that rest of the world has started giving women and children civic rights...

Shira and Islam has no minimum age for marriage for women (sadly). If your laws and cultural values are focus literally on 1400 years old Arab Tribal Culture, you will always see many issues dealing with 21C civil and social values... This is sort of what we see at times with radical far right in US, who don't want to confront the past of slavery and segregation, many of them want to go back to those cultural norms, hence there is still lot of racial tension between far right and regular people and specially people from the left...

In Islamic culture nobody challenges the sacred founding fathers culture and life style, until Muslims honestly look at those values and allow to criticize, you will never get rid of many issues of modern time, equality of women is barred in Quran itself for instance, 2:1 women to men ratio in public and legal life stems from Quran, just blaming today's Mulvis will not cut it... Same goes for Child Marriages, Prophets and Sabahs themselves perform Child marriages (50 year old man and 10/16 years old girl), we never discuss that in public, without confronting them, how can we address cultural aspect of Pedophilia, Child marriages??

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Problem is you cannot fix your future and present without confronting the Past. Pedophilia, Child marriages was very common thing throughout the islamic history, goes back to the founding fathers (Prophet and Sabahas), just look at their marriages, which are reported only by Islamic sources... We put their private life under the rug and just focus on today's Mulvis, they are doing what Muslims have been doing throughout the history, its just that rest of the world has started giving women and children civic rights...

Shira and Islam has no minimum age for marriage for women (sadly). If your laws and cultural values are focus literally on 1400 years old Arab Tribal Culture, you will always see many issues dealing with 21C civil and social values... This is sort of what we see at times with radical far right in US, who don't want to confront the past of slavery and segregation, many of them want to go back to those cultural norms, hence there is still lot of racial tension between far right and regular people and specially people from the left...

In Islamic culture nobody challenges the sacred founding fathers culture and life style, until Muslims honestly look at those values and allow to criticize, you will never get rid of many issues of modern time, equality of women is barred in Quran itself for instance, 2:1 women to men ratio in public and legal life stems from Quran, just blaming today's Mulvis will not cut it... Same goes for Child Marriages, Prophets and Sabahs themselves perform Child marriages (50 year old man and 10/16 years old girl), we never discuss that in public, without confronting them, how can we address cultural aspect of Pedophilia, Child marriages??

You have totally gone off the tracks now.
Islamic teaching does not allow pedophilia or child marriage.

Child marriage and pedophilia under the cover of a religion is quite popular and common in Hinduism and it’s still widely practiced in India.

Search “Devdasi” in YouTube and you will see quite a lot of evidence that you will either deny or don’t watch to begin with.

Islamic teaching does NOT allow forceful conversion which is main topic of this news and pedophilia is a crime in Pakistan’s Islamic law - and hence this sick animal was thankfully arrested after the child’s age was verified by forensics. It’s pretty basic common sense if you have two brain cells to perceive?

 

[saeedhk]

You have totally gone off the tracks now.
Islamic teaching does not allow pedophilia or child marriage.

Child marriage and pedophilia under the cover of a religion is quite popular and common in Hinduism and it’s still widely practiced in India.

Search “Devdasi” in YouTube and you will see quite a lot of evidence that you will either deny or don’t watch to begin with.

Islamic teaching does NOT allow forceful conversion which is main topic of this news and pedophilia is a crime in Pakistan’s Islamic law - and hence this sick animal was thankfully arrested after the child’s age was verified by forensics. It’s pretty basic common sense if you have two brain cells to perceive?

Last year, the NA rejected anti-child marriage bill. It was termed unislamic and discarded. The bill aimed to fix the legal age of marriage at 18.

 

[saeedhk]

You have totally gone off the tracks now.
Islamic teaching does not allow pedophilia or child marriage.

Child marriage and pedophilia under the cover of a religion is quite popular and common in Hinduism and it’s still widely practiced in India.

Search “Devdasi” in YouTube and you will see quite a lot of evidence that you will either deny or don’t watch to begin with.

Islamic teaching does NOT allow forceful conversion which is main topic of this news and pedophilia is a crime in Pakistan’s Islamic law - and hence this sick animal was thankfully arrested after the child’s age was verified by forensics. It’s pretty basic common sense if you have two brain cells to perceive?

According to Islamic jurisprudence, a girl can be married off after having her first menstruation.There is no fixed age for marriage in Islam.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Last year, the NA rejected anti-child marriage bill. It was termed unislamic and discarded. The bill aimed to fix the legal age of marriage at 18.

According to Islamic jurisprudence, a girl can be married off after having her first menstruation.There is no fixed age for marriage in Islam.

Exactly, if you believe that Islamic guidance encourages child marriages and forced conversions, then you are no less than those Mullahs I mentioned in Post #12 above

 

[saeedhk]

Exactly, if you believe that Islamic guidance encourages child marriages and forced conversions, then you are no less than those Mullahs I mentioned in Post #12 above

Again, according to Islamic jurisprudence, a girl can be married off after having her first menstruation. There is no fixed age for marriage in Islam.

Whatever I am saying is proven from the Ahadith.

If it was up to me, I would raise the legal marriage age in Pakistan to at least 20 for male and 22 for females.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Again, according to Islamic jurisprudence, a girl can be married off after having her first menstruation. There is no fixed age for marriage in Islam.

Whatever I am saying is proven from the Ahadith.

If it was up to me, I would raise the legal marriage age in Pakistan to at least 20 for male and 22 for females.

Yes we can do that and I don't disagree. However, you seem to have a critical of view on Islamic Jurisprudence where mensuration age could be good enough for marriage BUT you conveniently ignored the actual world scenario where, this doesn't happen as often in Islamic countries as it happens in a lot of other countries.

Notice that almost all native girls in western countries and in the first world countries and in many, many third world's non-Islamic countries (South America, Africa, East Asia) start performing sexual activity at an average age of 12. From one boyfriend to another, is norm of the day.

Matter of fact, the legal sexual consent age in Philippines, for example, is 12 years old. Yes, by law of the land, you can have consensual sex with a 12 year old child in Philippines.
In Japan, it's 13 years.

In European countries like Portugal, Spain etc, its anywhere from 14 years and above.

Here in the United States, there are many reports which indicate that American girls lose virginity at an average age of 13. Do these girls get married to have sex? lol

Here is the list of youngest mothers in the world.
See, how many Muslim girls can you find?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_youngest_birth_mothers

What world are you sleeping in?

It seems ironic that you are OK with it when these first world non-Muslim countries allow girls to fornicate at very young age (these countries must have backing of scientific research which proves that such an early aged girls are good enough for consensual sexual activity); but you seem to have trouble with it, when Islamic guidance may allow to have a legal marriage for such girls instead of turning them into prostitutes?

Now, do some people in Muslim countries try abuse the Islamic jurisprudence and practice a form of pedophilia, HELL YES. But then we also have laws in place in Islamic countries like Pakistan that prohibits such sick activities. And this news report in the OP is in front of you.

Child abuse and pedophilia in my opinion is a lot more rampant in non-Islamic countries than in the Islamic Countries.

 

[saeedhk]

Yes we can do that and I don't disagree. However, you seem to have a critical of view on Islamic Jurisprudence where mensuration age could be good enough for marriage BUT you conveniently ignored the actual world scenario where, this doesn't happen as often in Islamic countries as it happens in a lot of other countries.

Notice that almost all native girls in western countries and in the first world countries and in many, many third world's non-Islamic countries (South America, Africa, East Asia) start performing sexual activity at an average age of 12. From one boyfriend to another, is norm of the day.

Matter of fact, the legal sexual consent age in Philippines, for example, is 12 years old. Yes, by law of the land, you can have consensual sex with a 12 year old child in Philippines.
In Japan, it's 13 years.

In European countries like Portugal, Spain etc, its anywhere from 14 years and above.

Here in the United States, there are many reports which indicate that American girls lose virginity at an average age of 13. Do these girls get married to have sex? lol

Here is the list of youngest mothers in the world.
See, how many Muslim girls can you find?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_youngest_birth_mothers

What world are you sleeping in?

It seems ironic that you are OK with it when these first world non-Muslim countries allow girls to fornicate at very young age (these countries must have backing of scientific research which proves that such an early aged girls are good enough for consensual sexual activity); but you seem to have trouble with it, when Islamic guidance may allow to have a legal marriage for such girls instead of turning them into prostitutes?

Now, do some people in Muslim countries try abuse the Islamic jurisprudence and practice a form of pedophilia, HELL YES. But then we also have laws in place in Islamic countries like Pakistan that prohibits such sick activities. And this news report in the OP is in front of you.

Child abuse and pedophilia in my opinion is a lot more rampant in non-Islamic countries than in the Islamic Countries.

There is a difference between being married and being unmarried. Being in a romantic relationship and having sexual intercourse extramaritally is fundamentally different from being in a child marriage. I am not sure why you would come up with such a conclusion.

Having an intimate partner does not rob you, in most cases, of education and employment. However, a child marriages always does because in Pakistan, people get married to procreate. Women are expected in Pakistan and in some third-world countries, to get pregnant as soon as possible after marriage.

 

[saeedhk]

Yes we can do that and I don't disagree. However, you seem to have a critical of view on Islamic Jurisprudence where mensuration age could be good enough for marriage BUT you conveniently ignored the actual world scenario where, this doesn't happen as often in Islamic countries as it happens in a lot of other countries.

Notice that almost all native girls in western countries and in the first world countries and in many, many third world's non-Islamic countries (South America, Africa, East Asia) start performing sexual activity at an average age of 12. From one boyfriend to another, is norm of the day.

Matter of fact, the legal sexual consent age in Philippines, for example, is 12 years old. Yes, by law of the land, you can have consensual sex with a 12 year old child in Philippines.
In Japan, it's 13 years.

In European countries like Portugal, Spain etc, its anywhere from 14 years and above.

Here in the United States, there are many reports which indicate that American girls lose virginity at an average age of 13. Do these girls get married to have sex? lol

Here is the list of youngest mothers in the world.
See, how many Muslim girls can you find?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_youngest_birth_mothers

What world are you sleeping in?

It seems ironic that you are OK with it when these first world non-Muslim countries allow girls to fornicate at very young age (these countries must have backing of scientific research which proves that such an early aged girls are good enough for consensual sexual activity); but you seem to have trouble with it, when Islamic guidance may allow to have a legal marriage for such girls instead of turning them into prostitutes?

Now, do some people in Muslim countries try abuse the Islamic jurisprudence and practice a form of pedophilia, HELL YES. But then we also have laws in place in Islamic countries like Pakistan that prohibits such sick activities. And this news report in the OP is in front of you.

Child abuse and pedophilia in my opinion is a lot more rampant in non-Islamic countries than in the Islamic Countries.

Are you trolling? Please watch these two videos.

Children in Pakistan are neglected and abused.

If children are not abused as you claim, why does Pakistan has the highest number of out-of-school children? Why are there millions of children working in brick factories, automobile workshops and restaurants. It is good to love your country but please do not lie to yourself.

 

[MenInG]

A local court in Karachi on Tuesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for a cleric accused of solemnising the marriage of an under-age girl Neha, who was allegedly forced to convert to Islam.

Qazi Mufti Ahmed Jaan Raheemi, who was on October 16 declared an absconder in the case filed by Neha, is also nominated in a case pertaining to the conversion and underage marriage of Arzoo Raja.

The court was hearing the case pertaining to Neha's underage marriage, which was filed by the victim last year, in which she had nominated the cleric, her purported husband Muhammad Imran and his four relatives. Last month, the court had issued a bailable warrant against Raheemi and four other suspects in the case.

During today's hearing, the investigating officer told the court that the warrant could not be executed and asked for more time to arrest the suspects. The judge then issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for the suspects and directed the IO to produce them before the court on November 16.

In a previous hearing of the case, the court had observed that the statements of the witnesses supported the complainant's account, who said that she was under 13 years of age when she was forcefully married off to Imran.

The judge noted that “she (Neha) deposed that they (suspects) forcibly obtained her signatures on plain papers and the co-accused committed zina with her”. Neha had recorded her statement under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). In her statement before the judicial magistrate, the victim had denied having embraced Islam.

“On careful examination of the statements recorded during preliminary inquiry, it appears that the complainant in her statement stated that she is less than 13 years [old] and she was not willing in the nikah with the accused Muhammad Imran,” Judicial Magistrate (West) Wajid Ali Channa had said in an earlier hearing.

The judge pointed out that under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013, the marriage of any individual who is under 18 years of age was prohibited.

He had further stated that Neha's "nikah was solemnised without her consent under pressure, coercion and influence. Hence [...] the offence under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013, read with Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898, is prima facie made out against the accused persons namely Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Rehan, Mst Sundus, Mst Azra and Qazi Mufti Ahmed Jaan Raheemi".

“Let the private complaint be admitted and brought on regular file and registered,” he had ordered.

Last year, the case was initially registered under Sections 365-B (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel for marriage etc), 376 (punishment for rape), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at Karachi's Ittehad Town police station on the victim's complaint.

Later, Sections 3 (punishment for male contracting party), Section 4 (punishment for solemnising a child marriage) and Section 5 (punishment for parent or guardian concerned in a child marriage) of the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013 were incorporated in the first information report on the directives of the judicial magistrate.

In May 2019, three of the five suspects escaped from the court after an additional district and sessions judge recalled the pre-arrest bail granted to them against a surety of Rs30,000 each.

Arzoo Raja
Raheemi is also accused of officiating the conversion to Islam of Arzoo Raja, another under-age Christian girl who was allegedly abducted and married to a Muslim man. A case pertaining to her marriage is underway in the Sindh High Court.

In a previous hearing, a division bench of the SHC, headed by Justice K K Agha, had directed that the girl be taken back to a shelter home and told police to proceed against her alleged husband for violating the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act 2013 after it was established that the girl was 14 years of age.

According to the first information report of the case registered on his complaint, Arzoo's father Raja stated that on October 13, he and his wife went to work while their son Shahbaz had gone to school. The complainant said his three daughters, including Arzoo, were present at their home in Karachi's Railway Colony when he received a call from a relative, who told him that Arzoo was missing.

Raja said he reached home and contacted their neighbours, but could not trace his daughter. He subsequently lodged a case regarding the abduction of his daughter against unknown persons at the Frere police station.

Arzoo's family members earlier this month told Dawn that her purported husband, Syed Ali Azhar, lived in a house opposite theirs along with his family and was at least 45-years-old. “The rascal who abducted her has prepared fake papers to show that she is 18-years-old,” her mother said.

Police had booked Azhar, the girl's alleged husband, and arrested his brothers, Syed Shariq Ali, Syed Mohsin Ali, and a friend, Danish, for allegedly abducting the underage girl, purportedly forcibly converting her and marrying her to a Muslim man.

Initially, Arzoo and her supposed husband petitioned the SHC seeking a restraining order against the FIR. She submitted in the petition that she converted to Islam of her free will and also asked her family members to embrace Islam, but they refused.

She said she also contracted marriage with Azhar of her own will without duress and fear and because of which her family members had registered a kidnapping case against her spouse and in-laws.

Therefore, on Oct 27, the bench had restrained the Frere police from making any arrest in the FIR against the spouse and in-laws of Arzoo and directed the SHO of Preedy police station to provide protection to the couple.

Subsequently, a judicial magistrate had dismissed an application filed by the girl's family seeking to send her to a shelter home from the custody of her alleged husband. Her parents contended that she was 13 and was forcibly converted to Islam after being abducted.

Meanwhile, the provincial law officer filed an application in the SHC seeking placement of the girl in the care of a shelter home to ensure her safety and protection.

The bench took up the application for hearing on November 2 and had directed the police to recover the girl and shift her to shelter home. Police subsequently recovered the girl on the same day and shifted her to a shelter home while Azhar was also taken into custody and on the following day a magistrate handed him over to police on three-day physical remand.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1589664/k...solemnising-underage-christian-girls-marriage

 

[Colorblind Genius]

If children are not abused as you claim,

excuse me?
Where did I make this claim?

I stated:

Child abuse and pedophilia in my opinion is a lot more rampant in non-Islamic countries than in the Islamic Countries.

How is this ^^^ Translated into denial of Child abuse in Pakistan?


And then, I am the one trolling?

 

[saeedhk]

excuse me?
Where did I make this claim?

I stated:



How is this ^^^ Translated into denial of Child abuse in Pakistan?


And then, I am the one trolling?

You are saying Pakistan is better country for children than the West which is 100% untrue!

 

[Colorblind Genius]

You are saying Pakistan is better country for children than the West which is 100% untrue!

What can I say?
Do you wear glasses? might as well check the prescription otherwise, serious reading comprehension issues? I dunno.

Please quote me where did I exactly say this point blank generalized statement?

Pakistan is better country for children than the West

 

[saeedhk]

What can I say?
Do you wear glasses? might as well check the prescription otherwise, serious reading comprehension issues? I dunno.

Please quote me where did I exactly say this point blank generalized statement?

"Child abuse and pedophilia in my opinion is a lot more rampant in non-Islamic countries than in the Islamic Countries."

 

[CricketCartoons]

"Child abuse and pedophilia in my opinion is a lot more rampant in non-Islamic countries than in the Islamic Countries."

Pakistan is a muslim majority country, not an islamic country.

 

[ishtiaq_ctg]

Pakistan is a muslim majority country, not an islamic country.

There was never an Islamic country to begin with. From Ummayads to Ottomans, all were empires and nothing else. They had nothing to do with Islam.

Only True Islamic regime was the one of Prophet(PBUH&F) and then to an extent the reigns of first four calips. But even those 30 years of khilafah cant be deemed as perfect and can in no way be replicated in the current world.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

There is a difference between being married and being unmarried. Being in a romantic relationship and having sexual intercourse extramaritally is fundamentally different from being in a child marriage. I am not sure why you would come up with such a conclusion.

Having an intimate partner does not rob you, in most cases, of education and employment. However, a child marriages always does because in Pakistan, people get married to procreate. Women are expected in Pakistan and in some third-world countries, to get pregnant as soon as possible after marriage.

But then Islam doesn't say that getting married robs one of education and employment. That is the unfortunate part of our society that the other poster is trying to call out.

The reason he came up with that conclusion is because we are talking about abusing young children sexually and whatnot. That's why the other poster brought up the concept of age of consent.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

"Child abuse and pedophilia in my opinion is a lot more rampant in non-Islamic countries than in the Islamic Countries."

And you translated the above as,

"Pakistan is better country for children than the West"

Seriously, are you feeling OK or missed your medicine or something?

 

[saeedhk]

And you translated the above as,



Seriously, are you feeling OK or missed your medicine or something?

Don't go back on your word now. You claim Pakistan had less child abuse than the West.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Don't go back on your word now. You claim Pakistan had less child abuse than the West.

First, I didn't say that. You are connecting the wrong dots otherwise, you can quote the exact words where this was stated. You won't because you can't.

But importantly, for the sake of argument, lets say even if this was stated, we still can't argue it because your definition of "child abuse" is different than mine.

When a 12 year old girl loses her virginity or a 13 years old boy is sexually molested (even legally in places like Portugal), you call it "romantic relationship and having sexual intercourse extramaritally" that does not create a hindrance of the kids ability to go to school and find work.

I will let you leave with these sick justifications. We don't have an argument here.

 

[saeedhk]

First, I didn't say that. You are connecting the wrong dots otherwise, you can quote the exact words where this was stated. You won't because you can't.

But importantly, for the sake of argument, lets say even if this was stated, we still can't argue it because your definition of "child abuse" is different than mine.

When a 12 year old girl loses her virginity or a 13 years old boy is sexually molested (even legally in places like Portugal), you call it "romantic relationship and having sexual intercourse extramaritally" that does not create a hindrance of the kids ability to go to school and find work.

I will let you leave with these sick justifications. We don't have an argument here.

Again, read what I said in response to your claim about romantic relationship and marriages. You do not even know what you want to argue for.

 

[MenInG]

A cleric, who is nominated in a case pertaining to the alleged abduction, forced conversion and marriage of underage girl Arzoo Raja, was granted pre-arrest bail on Thursday by a local court in Karachi against a surety of Rs50,000.

Qazi Abdul Rasool received interim bail until November 16 after he approached the court earlier today. He is accused of officiating the marriage of Arzoo Raja, a teenaged Christian girl who was allegedly abducted before being forcefully converted and married to a Muslim man. The case is currently being heard by a local court, while another case for Arzoo's custody is underway in the Sindh High Court (SHC).

In his bail application, Rasool said that the allegations levelled against him by Arzoo's father were based on "mala fide intentions with ulterior motives". He denied being involved in any illegal actions or committing any offence.

Rasool told the court that Arzoo and Ali Azhar — who she had been married to — came to him on October 13 with their lawyers to contract a marriage. The cleric said that Arzoo had also produced an affidavit — which was attested by a Justice of Peace — saying that the teenager was entering the marriage of her own free will. She also had a certificate of embracing Islam which had been issued by a Mufti.

He said that he had solemnised the marriage after going through the documents presented by the parties. Rasool also said that he had been told that Arzoo was 18 years of age when she left her parents' house. Earlier this week, a medical board constituted by the SHC had found that the victim was 14 years old.

The cleric said that there were chances of his "illegal arrest" by the police and urged the court to grant him bail. Earlier, police had told the court that Rasool, along with two others, was on the run.

Rasool said that the sections invoked in the first information report did not apply to him as he had solemnised the marriage "as per the Shariah law" and alleged that the police were trying to arrest him in the false case in collusion with the complainant by raiding his house and office continuously.

Key accused sent on judicial remand
Meanwhile, another local court sent Azhar, Arzoo's purported husband, to jail on judicial remand after the investigating officer (IO) said that the suspect's physical remand was no longer required. Azhar was produced before Judicial Magistrate (South) Muhammad Ali Dall after his physical remand had expired.

During the hearing, Azhar's counsel Advocate Muhammad Nizar Tanoli argued that the entire proceedings of the matter were against the fundamental principles of Islam, as Arzoo herself had stated before the SHC that she had not been abducted.

Advocate Muhammad Riaz Abbasi and Luke Victor, who appeared on behalf of the petitioner — Arzoo's father — as well as the state prosecutor Abdul Rehman Thaheem supported the submissions of the investigating officer and requested for passing the appropriate order.

After hearing arguments from the counsel of both parties and pursuing the case record, the judge remanded Azhar to judicial custody with the direction to produce him before the court on November 16. The IO was told to file an investigation report on the next date.

Case details
In the FIR of the case registered on the complaint of Arzoo's father, Raja, he claims that on October 13, he and his wife went to work while their son Shahbaz had gone to school.

Raja said his three daughters, including Arzoo, were present at their home in Karachi's Railway Colony when he received a call from a relative, who told him that Arzoo was missing.

Raja said he reached home and contacted his neighbours, but could not trace his daughter. He subsequently lodged a case regarding the abduction of his daughter against unknown persons at the Frere Police Station.

Arzoo's family members earlier this month told Dawn that her purported husband Azhar lived in a house opposite theirs along with his family and he was at least 45-years-old.

"The rascal who abducted her has prepared fake papers to show that she is 18-years-old,” her mother said.

Police had booked Azhar and arrested his brothers, Syed Shariq Ali, Syed Mohsin Ali, and a friend, Danish, for allegedly abducting the underage girl, purportedly forcibly converting her and marrying her to a Muslim man.

However, Arzoo had sought a court injunction against the registration of an FIR against her spouse and in-laws by her family at the Frere Police Station by filing a constitutional petition in the SHC.

She submitted in the petition that she converted to Islam of her free will and also asked her family members to embrace Islam but they refused.

On November 2, an SHC bench had taken up a petition filed by the girl's father and had directed the police to recover her and shift her to a shelter home. Police subsequently recovered the girl on the same day and shifted her to a shelter home.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1590018/k...f-solemnising-marriage-of-underage-girl-arzoo