Karachi
April 23, 2021
A sessions court has dismissed the appeal filed by the man who married teenager Christian-turned-Muslim girl Arzoo seeking her custody.
Ali Azhar has been through a trial for allegedly kidnapping the girl, who is said to be under the age of 15, forcibly marrying her and raping her. His two brothers, as many lawyers, a friend and a cleric have also been implicated for allegedly facilitating the offence.
Azhar, who was recently released on bail, had pleaded to the court to allow him to meet his wife who is currently living in a shelter home. He said that being a single male member, he was having difficulties in taking care of his family.
In this file photo, Arzoo’s parents hold up her picture. Fahim Siddiqi/White Star
KARACHI: A family court has dismissed a suit instituted by the alleged husband of a teenage Christian girl, Arzoo, seeking her custody.
Syed Ali Azhar along with his brothers Syed Mohsin Ali and Syed Shariq Ali and their friend Danish has been charged with kidnapping the teenage girl and subjecting her to rape.
A cleric, Qazi Abdul Rasool, Junaid Ali Siddiqui and Mehmood Hassan have also been charged with facilitating allegedly forced conversion of Arzoo and solemnising her underage marriage with Azhar.
Ali Azhar, who was recently released on bail, had instituted a suit submitting that he married Arzoo on Oct 12, 2020 against a dower of Rs50,000.
Main suspect to be tried for rape in Arzoo underage marriage case
Karachi
December 10, 2020
listening to multiple rounds of strong arguments, a District South civil judge finally decided in favour of the police’s investigation in the case of underage marriage of purportedly Christian-turned-Muslim girl Arzoo by implicating Azhar, the man who married her, in rape and six others in facilitating the child marriage.
On Wednesday, the District South civil judge and judicial magistrate XXIII, Muhammad Ali Dall, gave verdict in favour of the charge sheet submitted by the investigation officer of the case, Inspector Shariq Ahmed Siddiqui, and ordered him to register a case under the Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with the sections 3 and 5 of the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act (SCMRA).