High court will clarify child rights law, says CJP

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the administration to hand over the recovered girls to their mother, Dr. Mehreen Baloch.

A three-member SC court consisting of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Judge Ayesha A Malik and Judge Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi heard the case on the kidnapping of minor girls. During the course of the proceedings, the court ordered the girls to continue to be counseled by a psychologist. The court ordered law enforcement agencies to reveal the names of the culprits involved in the kidnapping.

The Chief Justice said that the court would clarify the child rights law in the present case. He said the girls were kidnapped for six years and abused. The kidnapping of girls for six years occurred in the feudal system, not in a country with legal supremacy.

DIG Sindh said 13 people, including the father, helped in the abduction of two girls from Dr. Mehreen Baloch. The girls’ father had filed petitions against them to annul the joint investigation team (JIT), he added.

Judge Mazahar ordered the provincial government to immediately withdraw the petitions against the DIG. The DIG took all measures for the recovery of the girls by court order, he added.

The chief justice said the girl should be allowed to talk on the phone and visit her father.

Lawyer Ali Ahmed Kurd said the father was the girl’s true guardian and no action should be taken against him.

At this, the Chief Justice turned to Kurd and said that he was very passionate and he should also show some passion for the basic rights of girls.

Subsequently, the hearing in the case was adjourned until after Ramadan.