KARACHI: A medical board constituted to determine the age of Arzoo Raja — a minor Christian girl who was allegedly abducted before being forcefully converted and married to an older Muslim man — informed the Sindh High Court on Monday that the girl is aged between 14 to 15 years.
was allegedly abducted from her residence in Karachi on October 13 and two days later her neighbour, Syed Ali Azhar, while claiming to be her husband, produced a marriage certificate saying she was of legal age, 18, and had converted to Islam.
A first information report (FIR) was lodged at Ferere police station subsequently on behalf of her father and nominated Azhar as the prime suspect. Following the filing of the complaint, the police arrested Azhar’s brothers — Syed Shariq Ali and Syed Mohsin Ali — and a friend, Danish, for allegedly abducting Raja.
Subsequently, a division bench — headed by Justice K. K. Agha — directed that the girl be taken back to a shelter home and told police to proceed against Azhar for violating the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013.
During earlier hearings, Raja had stated she had embraced Islam out of her free choice and had solemnised a free-will marriage with Azhar “without any fear or pressure”.
During Monday’s hearing, Raja reiterated she had not been kidnapped and had willingly married Azhar after converting to Islam.
The bench observed that according to the report presented by the medical board, the girl is between 14 to 15 years of age while the National Database and Registration Authority record showed she is 13 years old.
When the court asked Raja if she wished to go with her parents or to the shelter home, she insisted on going with Azhar and broke into tears.
However, the bench observed that she appeared to be underage and could not contract a marriage of her own free will. The court ordered the girl be taken back to the shelter home and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.
Jibran Nasir, the counsel for Raja’s family, said that the medical report submitted to the SHC proved that the girl is “around 14 years of age”.
“Court recognises Nadra documents stating Arzoo’s age to be 13 as true. Declares prima facie she contracted child marriage,” said Nasir, who is part of the legal team fighting the case on behalf of Arzoo’s parents.
Hon’ Court has not disposed off this petition and next hearing is after two weeks. Court is yet to determine whether #Arzoo is sui juris to convert religion of free will given her age of 13. At this stage only question of Child Marriage has been addressed and resolved.
— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) November 9, 2020
“The court has not disposed off this petition and the next hearing is after two weeks. The court is yet to determine whether Arzoo is sui juris to convert religion of free will given her age of 13. At this stage only question of child marriage has been addressed and resolved,” he said.
THE CASE:
The case led to protests which started in Karachi but have since spread across Pakistan to other cities including Quetta, Lahore, and Hyderabad after a judicial magistrate dismissed last month an application filed by Raja’s family, requesting to send her to a shelter home from the custody of her purported husband.
However, the judge upheld the marriage after Azhar claimed the girl had converted of her own free will.
According to Raja’s family, her purported husband lived in a house opposite theirs along with his family. “[The man who] abducted her has prepared fake papers to show that she is 18-year-old,” her mother, Rita Masih, said.
The investigating officer in the case, Inspector Shariq Ahmed Siddiqui, had stated that the victim had appeared before the high court and was sent under the protection of the station house officer of the Preedy police station in compliance with the court’s October 27 order.
He said he had called in the verification of Raja’s B-form, which as per the Nadra record, was authentic.
