By Khadijah Shah
Karachi, Pakistan: The Judicial Magistrate, West, Syed Nadeem Shahzad Haider, issued the acquittal order on Tuesday of two of the accused involved in the kidnapping of their nieces because the case was not maintainable.
The Investigation Officer (IO) for the case submitted a report under Section 179 arguing that the case against the accused was not maintainable so they will be released. The court, accepting the
application, ordered their acquittal.
Two minor girls, eight-year-old Zainab and 10-year-old Sara, were allegedly kidnapped by their uncle, Shah Tareen, with the help of Ishaq and Sanober from Karachi and were sent to Kala Dhaka and handed
over to other people after a Jirga’s decision.
Shah Tareen married against the will of the Jirga. He was asked to hand over the two minor girls in return. He kidnapped two of his nieces and handed them over to aggrieved party under the settlement.
The two girls had submitted three applications before the court of Judicial Magistrate, West, Syed Nadeem Shahzad Haider, calling to provide protection to the family who still were receiving threats. Secondly,
they said, action should be taken against Jirga who they said had given illegal decision. Thirdly the police party who was sent to Mansehra to recover the missing girls had disappeared and the parents
of the girls themselves investigated into the affair.
The Judge later ordered that the two sisters be handed over to their mother. Zainab and Sara stated that they were kidnapped by their uncle Shah Tareen with the help of Ishaq and Sanober from Karachi.
Later, Ishaq took them to Kala Dhaka and detained them at his home, they said, adding they were forced to serve as maids.
The girls recorded their statements before the court. A letter of the DCO and political agent of the tribal area regarding recovery of the girls was also produced before the court.
The applicant and mother of the girls told the court that the police party sent by the Sindh home department on a court order to Mansehra for the recovery of her daughters had just delivered court orders to the DCO and immediately came back to Karachi, adding she had personally approached the DCO who deputed a Tehsildar to negotiate with the tribal people for the recovery of the girls.
She requested the court to take action against the police team for not complying with the court orders.
The judge directed the police party constituted for the recovery of the girls, to appear before the court on Aug 29 and asked the SHO of Gulbahar to provide security to the applicant.
Background
On a pervious hearing, the police party stated in its report that the staff of Oghi police station had refused to cooperate with them by maintaining that the area of Kala Dhaka, where girls were detained,
was in the jurisdiction of Provincially Administered Tribal Areas and said a political Tehsildar of Kala Dhaka Jamshad Khan was negotiating with the local Jirga and the girls are likely to be recovered soon.
The applicant stated that Shah Tareen had married Jannat against her parents’ will in their native town in district Mansehra. To settle the dispute between the two families, a Jirga asked Tareen to hand over
his nieces to the aggrieved party as compensation.
Subsequently, he allegedly kidnapped the two girls and handed them over to a Jirga member, Sanober, in Karachi and later to a member of the aggrieved party, Ishaq, in Mansehra. The police had arrested Shah Tareen and Sanober following registration a case against them at SITE police station. Ishaq was also named in the FIR.
Source:
Ferhan Mazher
Chairman (Rays of Development Organization, Sargodha, Pakistan)
Secular Pakistan 