GILGIT: Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court on Monday allowed Falak Noor, an underage girl, who was kidnapped from Gilgit and forcibly married to a boy in Mansehra, to make a personal choice — whether to go with her parents and the boy with whom she has solemnized Nikkah without the consent of her parents.
The boy was allegedly involved in her abduction according to an FIR filed at the Daniyore Gilgit police station on January 21, 2024.
The twist in Noor’s case came on Saturday when the Gilgit police successfully located and presented her to a district and sessions court 75 days after her disappearance.
During her judicial statement before Magistrate Anum Zahra on Thursday, Falak Noor vehemently denied the kidnapping allegations.
She stated that her departure from her parental home was voluntary and disclosed her marriage to Fareed Alam, a resident of Sultanabad, Gilgit.
The case gained prominence due to discrepancies in Noor’s age, with three different claims coming to light. According to her Form B, she is 12 years old, while her birth certificate indicates she is 13. In contrast, Noor has consistently claimed she is 16. The confusion led the court to order an ossification test during Saturday’s hearing to determine her accurate age. The results of the examination, conducted by a three-member panel of doctors, placed her age between 13 to 16 years.
During the hearing, Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court Chief Justice Ali Baig inquired Noor’s preference, to which she expressed her desire to remain with her husband. “I want to be sent with my Husband,” Noor stated, a response that shaped the court’s final verdict. In a brief oral judgment, the court declared, “The girl (Falak Noor) to be sent wherever she wants to go,” and disposed of the writ petition.
