Husband's plea for Arzoo's custody dismissed.

KARACHI -- A family court has dismissed a suit instituted by the alleged husband of a teenage Christian girl, Arzoo, seeking her custody.

Syed Ali Azhar along with his brothers Syed Mohsin Ali and Syed Shariq Ali and their friend Danish has been charged with kidnapping the teenage girl and subjecting her to rape.

A cleric, Qazi Abdul Rasool, Junaid Ali Siddiqui and Mehmood Hassan have also been charged with facilitating allegedly forced conversion of Arzoo and solemnising her underage marriage with Azhar.

Ali Azhar, who was recently released on bail, had instituted a suit submitting that he married Arzoo on Oct 12, 2020 against a dower of Rs50,000.

The plaintiff submitted that Arzoo, who belonged to Christian faith, embraced Islam by exercising her right of majority and contracted nikah with him.

He submitted that the family of the girl lodged a criminal case regarding her kidnapping against him, therefore, he was arrested while the Sindh High Court sent the girl to a shelter home while hearing a petition filed by her parents.

Advocate Nizar Tanoli submitted that after his release on bail his client tried to contact Arzoo when he came to know that she would not be allowed to meet him under the orders of the high court.

He...