Haripur police recover kidnapped Christian girl, arrest two alleged kidnappers
By Muhammad Sadaqat
Haripur: The Ghazi police claimed to have traced the missing Christian girl along with her alleged kidnapper and the court sent her to a shelter home after recording her statement while the suspect and his father were sent to jail on judicial remand on Thursday.
The school girl have however interestingly rejected her parents’ claim of her forced conversion and marriage and through a statement before the court of judicial magistrate confirmed that she has converted to Islam before solemnizing marriage with Zulqarnain Zahid without any coercion or temptation.
The police had registered criminal case under section 365-B of PPC on the evening of August 11, against Zulqarnain Zahid and his father Zahid Iqbal for kidnapping their daughter Princy, a 9th grader Christian girl from Mubeen Banda Tehsil Ghazi when her mother Noreen Maseeh and father Francis Maseeh filed complaint of the kidnapping of daughter on the night of August 3.
According to police, they have arrested Zulqarnain and his father, Zahid Iqbal, and recovered the kidnapped girl from their home on Wednesday evening.
The girl was produced before the court of judicial magistrate IV, Haripur on Thursday where she recorded her statement under section 164 CrPc denying that Zulqarnain has kidnapped her or she was forced on conversion.
The police said that the girl stated before the magistrate that she had changed her Christian name Princy with Islamic name Zainab Bibi before her court marriage in Swabi district and that all happened with her free will.
She told the court that she wanted to live with her husband, Zulqarnain, however the court has sent the girl to Daral Amman while Zainab’s husband and his father were sent to Haripur jail on judicial remand.
According to documents of marriage carrying pictures of both the bride and groom on a Rs 100 judicial stamp paper and nikah nama, that were available with this correspondent the girl has solemnized marriage with Zulqarnain on August 7, and her dower was fixed as Rs 400,000 cash and four tolas of gold jewelry and Rs 15,000 per month in case of marital dispute.
However, the girl’s parents again rejected the claim that their daughter was medically eligible for marital union, adding that her medical certificate proving that she has reached puberty was fake.
Her parents said that as per Nadra’s registration certificate of children below 18 years, (available with this correspondent) their daughter was 14.6 years old as her date of birth was January 10, 2007.
