The Principal District and Sessions Court here on Saturday adjourned to September 3 the anticipatory bail applications of five functionaries of the orphanage who have been arraigned as accused in the case of a United Arab Emirates (UAE) citizen marrying a minor girl and later divorcing her.
The reason cited for the postponement of the bail pleas was that the police did not give a report on the role of these persons in facilitating the marriage of the girl who was residing at the Kuttichira-based girls’ orphanage.
The case related to a UAE national Jasem Mohammed Abdul Karim Abdulahmed, 28, marrying a 17-year-old girl from Malappuram on June 13. He left the country on July 1 and later divorced her through triple talaq over the phone.
The orphanage functionaries who had approached the court seeking bail are P.N. Hamsa Koya (chairman), P.T. Mohammed Ali (secretary), P.V. Mamu Koya (coordinator) and Yahiya Khader and P.M. Khalid (members).
Judge V. Bhaskaran also posted to September 3 the bail applications of three persons already arrested in the case. They are Sulaika, 42, mother of Jasem, her second husband C. Muneer, 38, and Abu Shahabas, 27, a cousin of Jasem. All of them are remanded in judicial custody at the district jail.
The police have named 11 persons in the list of accused submitted to the Kozhikode Judicial First Class Magistrate Court. Three others are relatives of Jasem.
The accused have been charged with Section 376 (rape) and Sections of the Prohibition of Domestic Violence Act, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, Juvenile Justice Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
A special police team led by the Town Circle Inspector T.K. Ashraf is investigating the case.
