March 26, 2024
By Imtiaz Ali Taaj
GILGIT:
The Falak Noor case takes a legal turn as her father alleges she’s underage and forcibly abducted.
In an exclusive interview with Voicepk, Sakhi Ahmed asserts he has ample evidence confirming his daughter’s age as 13.
About two months ago, Falak was allegedly abducted while on her way a nearby community centre for religious education in Sultanabad, Gilgit. She vanished under suspicious circumstances, reportedly after marrying her neighbour.
Ahmed filed the complaint on January 20, yet she has not been recovered. The boy’s father and his close relative, who claimed to have arranged a marriage of choice between the young couple, have been detained.
The father alleges that her daughter was taken to Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where they staged a marriage – “in an act of cruelty and coercion”.
He accuses four relatives of the boy involved in forcing his daughter to marry. “Police have adopted a biased attitude. My daughter is not being recovered,” he adds.
In desperation, Ahmed is planning to file a petition in the court for the recovery of the girl – “Until my daughter gives a statement in the court in a free environment, I am not willing to accept any statement”.
SSP Gilgit Muhammad Ayaz states that the police have been unable to locate the girl in the past two months because, “The boy and the girl do not possess identity cards due to their young age.”
The police are facing difficulties in tracking them through their mobile phones. They have raided several places but in vain. Meanwhile, the second accused has been released on bail, against whom an appeal has been filed in the high court.
In a video circulated on social media, Falak Noor stated that she is 16 years old. She revealed that no one has kidnapped her and that she married her neighbour of her own free will in Mansehra on March 23.
Punjab Interior Minister Shams Lone assured that the girl would be recovered within a week, but despite the passing of that timeframe, she remains missing.