Calcutta, Feb. 20: The high court today barred a qazi from conducting marriages in the future for having solemnised the wedding of a 12-year-old girl, who was allegedly abducted by a man of 32.

Sabina Khatun got married to Zulfiquar Khan on December 1, 2005, in the presence of Abdur Hannan of Diamond Harbour.

On February 16, Sabina’s mother Mumtaz Bewa had moved court alleging that Zulfiquar and his friends had forcibly picked her when she was on her way to a doctor. “They took Sabina to the qazi’s house and he conducted the marriage in the presence of Zulfiquar’s father,” Nekib Ahmed, the lawyer for Mumtaz, told the court.

Officers of Falta police station rescued Sabina and handed her to her mother when she filed a complaint. “But they neither arrested Zulfiquar nor took acted against the qazi.”

Justice Soumitra Sen restrained Sabina and Zulfiquar from leading a conjugal life. “Zulfiquar will not be permitted within 500 meters of Sabina’s house. Police will arrest him if he violates the order.”

The judge had earlier asked the district police chief and the Falta OC to ensure Hannan and Zulfiquar’s presence in court. They were there today.

The government pleader, Rabilal Moitra, argued that the police had done their duty by rescuing the girl.