KARACHI, JAN 06 (DNA) — The Sindh High Court on Friday gave interim custody of a teenage Karachi girl who ran way and married a boy in Lahore to her parents. The court rejected the petition filed by her husband Zaheer Ahmad seeking the court order to let his wife go with him and disposed of the case.

The court, however, ordered the father of the girl to submit Rs1 million surety bond. It also directed the father to report to the Child Protection Bureau every week in presence of a police inspector. The teenage girl’s husband Zaheer Ahmad appeared before the court.

At the outset of the hearing, Zaheer Ahmad’s lawyer Gul Muhammad Farooqi objected to other party’s contention saying how the girl could be considered under custody at a shelter home when the court had sent her there. He contended that since the girl was the prime witness in the case, how she could be sent to her parents’ house.

Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro remarked that it’s better to seek the consent of the girl in this matter. The judge then asked the girl (whose parents alleged that she was kidnapped by Zaheer Ahmad) to come forward and let the court know with whom she wanted to go. The girl uttered that she wanted to go with her parents.

Then the judge inquired of her if she had any reservations. When the girl didn’t object, the court allowed her interim custody to her parents but said that the trial court would decide about her permanent custody.  However, Advocate Farooqi objected and said that the star witness would go to the plaintiff.

He requested the court to stop the parents from taking the girl abroad. The court asked the parents to give some surety to the court in order to get the custody of the girl. The court then asked the father to submit a surety bond of Rs1 million. = DNA