Police rescue Christian girl allegedly abducted in Karachi
Girl is being sent to shelter home as per directive of court
Karachi: Police have rescued 13-year-old Christian girl Arzoo Masih who was allegedly abducted in Karachi and forcefully converted to Islam and unlawfully married to a 44-year-old Muslim neighbour.
Sindh Law and Environment Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab, who also acts as the spokesman for the Sindh government, made an announcement to this effect on Twitter.
Wahab said earlier the Sindh High Court, on an application made by the Sindh Government, had ordered the police to locate Arzoo within five days and shift her to a shelter home.
The police said the Christian girl had been rescued safely while the police arrested her alleged husband. The girl is being sent to a shelter home as per the directive of the court.
She will be produced before the court on the date of the next hearing - November 5 - while a medical test will be conducted to know her exact age.
Arzoo had gone missing last month from her home in Railway Colony near Karachi’s Cantonment Railway Station.
Speaking at a press conference, Central President of Minorities’ Wing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Shunila Ruth, said that a false affidavit had been prepared to show that Arzoo was 18.
She said the Sindh government should have taken action swiftly to rescue the minor after she went missing. She said that marrying a minor girl was an unlawful act.
Leader of Opposition in Sindh Assembly, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, who also belongs to the PTI, said the provincial government should punish the persons who violated the Sindh Child Marriages’ Restrain Act of 2013.
He said all the persons who had facilitated the marriage of the underage girl should be arrested.
He said members of religious minorities had been facing several issues in the province related to the human rights.
Punjab Minister for Minorities and Human Rights, Ejaz Alam Augustine, condemned the negligence and dereliction of duty on the part of the Sindh government in Arzoo’s case.
He said the Sindh government had failed to act upon its own laws to give due to protection to minorities.
Sindh Governor Imran Ismail also met a delegation of the minorities and stated that the government would not do any compromise on the issue of underage marriages. He assured the delegation that the issue of Arzoo would be resolved in accordance with the law.