The Sindh High Court ordered Aarzoo Raja, a minor Christian girl who was forcibly abducted and converted to Islam by Ali Azhar, a 44-year old man from Karachi, to be sent to a shelter home on Tuesday. She had been taken from her home and forcefully married off to Ali after being proselytized to Islam agianst her consent.
Mazari, a human rights advocate who had voiced for Aarzoo’s justice tweeted about the verdict, following strong protests by various human rights organisations. “The judge has ordered that the girl be recovered by police and relevant agencies and shifted to a shelter home. Next hearing fixed for Thursday morning [November 5]. My lawyer has informed the court that an intervener will be filed on my behalf,” Mazari said on Twitter.
On October 13, Arzoo was abducted from her family home in Karachi by her Muslim neighbor, Ali Azhar. Arzoo’s parents reported the incident to local police and were informed two days later that their daughter had converted to Islam and married Azhar.
It is to be noted that there had initally been an argument in court saying that Arzoo had freely chosen to convert to Islam and marry Ali. But, the legal age for marriage and consent is 16 years for women and 18 for boys in Pakistan, and Arrzoo having been a minor wasn’t legally of age to give consent.