KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday ordered the authorities to get Arzoo - a minor girl allegedly abducted, forced to change her religion and married to a middle-aged man - settled at a shelter home.

A division bench of the SHC, comprising Justices K K Agha and Amjad Ali Sahito, was told that Arzoo's age was around 14 to 15 years, according to a report presented by a medical board which had been constituted by the government on court orders.

When the court asked Arzoo if she had been forced to convert to Islam, she replied in the negative.

The minor girl was then asked if she wished to return to her parents.

"I want to live with my husband," she said, referring to the 44-year-old man who married her in Karachi.

Consequently, the SHC bench directed the authorities to move Arzoo to a shelter home and allow only those people to see her who she wanted to see.

Separately, the investigation officer informed the bench that the case had now been registered under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act 2013.

The hearing was put off until November 23.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020