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SC wants facts on girls conversion
 The Supreme Court on Friday ordered its deputy registrar in Karachi to confirm whether the conversion of three newly converted girls was forced or based on their free will. The court ordered its Karachi Registry to meet Reena, 21, Reema, 17, and Usha, 18, in the presence of a Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) representative at the Edhi Home and record their statements to ascertain whether they accepted Islam out of their free will or under pressure. In our opinion it is appropriate to record statements of the girls under oath to verify whether the statement of their counsel was correct or not, a three-member bench consisting of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Faqir Khokhar and Justice Shakirullah Jan observed. The girls were living in Madrassa Taleemul Quran in Karachi, but were later shifted to Edhi Home on the orders of the Supreme Court. An FIR was lodged regarding the girls abduction and rape. The three sisters were later found in a religious seminary getting Islamic education. The Supreme Court took up the application and summoned the girls to record their statement. The girls appeared in court on December 16 and testified that they had accepted Islam out of their free will. On Friday, their counsel gave a letter written by them to the court, stating that it was difficult for them to travel from Karachi to Islamabad for hearings, thus their case may be disposed of. Posted by: Fred 2006-02-25 |
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