The Islamabad police arrested a cleric who had allegedly solemnised the marriage of a 16-year-old girl without her consent and information. The Supreme Court of Pakistan gave the directions for the arrest after the 16 year-old ‘S’, a resident of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, submitted an application in the court. She submitted that her relative, Abid Khurshid, was claiming that he married S in Sitara Market on July 10, 2011. Khurshid had also claimed that he had the nikah nama. S said Khurshid and his family were also blackmailing her. The Supreme Court forwarded the application to the Abpara Police Station and ordered an investigation into the matter. The police then arrested a cleric, Mufti Bashir, who allegedly solemised the marriage. Police investigators said they learnt from the locals that Mufti Bashir had been solemnising nikahs with fake signatures of unsuspecting girls. He was also involved in blackmailing the girls with their ‘husbands’. Abpara Police Station Assistant Sub-Inspector Nasir Mahfooz, who is investigating the case, told Pakistan Today that since the accused was arrested, he has received a number of calls by other victims. He said the said cleric is also known in his locality as a ‘magician’. Mahfooz said a police official posed as a businessman and called Mufti Bashir on the pretext of needing help in reverting losses from business. The cleric accepted the request to have a meeting in Abpara Market, from where police arrested him. Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Allah Bux said Mufti Bashir and another cleric, Taj Muhammad, in connivance with Abid’s brother allegedly solemnised the fake nikah. The police also recovered the nikah nama from the possessions of the cleric. The SHO said the document would be sent to the FIA for verification of the girl’s signature. He added that Khurshid’s family staged the marriage to blackmail S’s family into settling a family dispute. The SHO stated that his team was after the other accused involved in the episode. Mufti Bashir is currently in the custody of the Abpara Police on a two-day physical remand.
While talking to Pakistan Today, Bashir insisted that he had solemnised a genuine nikah.
