By: Jamal Khurshid
Karachi: The Sindh High Court on Monday directed a woman seeking the deletion of a fake Facebook account in her name to approach the Federal Investigation Agency for help.
Laila, who is a frequent user of the social networking website, submitted in her petition that her fiancé’s brother created a fake webpage and uploaded her pictures without her consent.
She complained that her fiancé’s brother, who is also a close relative, posted her pictures along with a lot of immoral and unethical pictures on the page just to defame her and create hurdles in her marriage.
Her counsel Munir Ahmed told the court that his client was suffering from mental agony due to the act of the respondent, and the police and other law enforcement agencies were not taking any action despite several complaints.
He submitted that the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) was also approached for the removal of the fake account, but to no avail.
He asked the court to direct the IT and telecommunications ministry as well as the PTA to remove the page immediately and direct the police to register a criminal case against the respondent.
An FIA official, who appeared over a court notice, said that a number of FIRs had been registered under the Electronic Transaction Ordinance 2002 regarding fake IDs on the social website.
He said the grievance of the petitioner would be redressed if she approached the department concerned of the FIA.
A division bench, headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, disposed of the petition, and told the woman to approach the FIA to get her grievance redressed.
‘Forced marriage’
The SHC directed police to provide protection to a woman who was allegedly forced into marriage with a man.
The directive came on a petition of the woman, who alleged harassment.
Ghulam Fatima submitted that she was kidnapped from the Khokhrapar area and forced into marriage marry Mohammad Hanif. She said that her thumb impression was forcibly put on the marriage papers.
The complainant said that she was later released after the payment of Rs150,000 by one Haji Hussain, a resident of Badin, who negotiated with the kidnappers.
She said she was sui juris and did not want to live with Hanif. She said an FIR was also registered at the police station of the area.
Hanif, however, denied the allegation of forcing the woman to marry, but he admitted that the FIR had been lodged against him. He said he had already filed a suit with a family court for the annulment of the marriage.
A single bench, headed by Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar, disposed of the petition, and directed the police to provide protection to the woman against harassment by the respondent.