Muslim youth who married underage Hindu girl booked

A Sindh court on Tuesday ordered registration of cases against Raza Solangi, who contracted love marriage with a Hindu girl, and others under Sindh Child Marriage Act.

Mehak Kumari had married with the Muslim youth after converting to Islam and adopting a Muslim name, Aliza.

But her Hindu parents approached Additional District and Sessions court Jacobabad for ascertaining her age, claiming the girl was underage and that she had been forced to marry.

Judge Ghulam Ali Kanasro pronounced the detailed judgment on Tuesday, ordering registration of cases against the groom and others who facilitated him in the whole affair.

Earlier, a board of the Chandka Medical College produced the medical certificate of the girl in court with the comments that she was 15-16 years old.

The girl remained at the court for three hours on Tuesday and no one was allowed to meet her.

The court ordered the provincial police chief to registered cases against all the persons involved in the marriage of the underage girl.

The court also ordered sending Mehak Kumari from Darul Amaan to Child Protection Bureau within 48 hours.

Earlier, Mehak Kumari was brought to the court from a Darul Amaan in Larkana in an armoured vehicle amid foolproof security due to the sensitive nature of the case.

All roads leading to the court were barricaded with barbed wire to avoid any unpleasant incident on the occasion of her appearance. Extra police deployment was made to cope with any untoward situation.

Case details

Mehak Kumari had fled her home and married Ali Raza Solangi after accepting Islam at Dargah Amrut Sharif in Shikarpur, assuming a new name - Aliza Solangi.

Her father Vijya Kumar on January 10 filed a case for ascertaining her age, claiming she was not an adult and hence legally not permitted to marry.

Moreover, the parents believed the girl had been either forced to marry or tricked by the groom and his facilitators into changing her religion and marrying a Muslim man.

Girl’s statement

On February 6, Mehak Kumari alias Aliza recorded her statement to the judge.

She conceded that she developed an affair with Raza Solagni while he worked as a labourer during the construction of her house.

Later, she eloped with him and they went at Solangi’s relatives where she converted to Islam and they married.

But she told the judge that now she wished to go with her parents.

The decision to convert to Islam and marrying with the man was her own, she said but now she repented it.

“I think it was an emotional decision.”

She told the court that she wanted to go with her parent and ‘return’ to her previous religion.

Reaction

Making an issue out of the matter, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) had reacted on the girl’s statement about returning to her religion and announced a strike across Jacobabad on Tuesday.

Later, however, the party appeared to be divided over the strike call and the situation remained calm during hearing of the case.