KARACHI: A sessions court on Wednesday granted bail to suspect Shahrukh Najeeb, who had been detained for allegedly abducting a Karachi-based girl Nimra Kazmi and solemnising underage marriage with her in Punjab.
Kazmi went missing from her Saudabad home in April and later emerged in Dera Ghazi Khan claiming that she had solemnised a free-will marriage with Najeeb. The recent cases of disappearances of Dua Zehra — the teenage girl who was reported missing from Karachi’s Shah Faisal Colony on April 16 and was recovered from Bahawalnagar on June 5 — and Kazmi from Karachi and their purported marriages in Punjab had exposed the Sindh and Punjab police to strong criticism on social media and sparked debates on poor enforcement of laws restricting marriages of girls under 18.
On June 8, the Sindh High Court ruled that Zehra was free to decide her fate.
In the case of Kazmi, Najeeb was arrested from Lahore on charges of abducting the girl from Karachi and “marrying” her in April.
Today, the detained suspect moved an application before the Additional District and Sessions Judge (South) Faiza Khalil, seeking a grant of bail and his subsequent release from the prison.
Granting him a post-arrest bail against a surety of Rs50,000, the judge told the applicant to cooperate with the police in the investigation. –Agencies
