'No culture of girlfriend in an Islamic Society,' says Pakistan's top court

Islamabad, Nov 20: Hearing a case of alleged harassment, Pakistan's Supreme Court today said that there was "no culture of girlfriend in an Islamic society".

The court was hearing the case of Muhammad Munir, a computer operator, who was arrested two months ago under cyber crime laws for allegedly creating a Facebook account under the name of his alleged 'girlfriend' without her consent and posting her photos.

While the hearing was in progress, the counsel of the accused replied to a query of the bench regarding mutual relationship of the accused and the girl by saying that she was Munir's girlfriend, the Express Tribune reported.

"Upon this, the bench remarked that there is no culture of girlfriend in an Islamic society as it is a Western concept," it reported.

The court further asked the FIA to submit the chargesheet within 14 days and asked the trial court to decide the matter within six months. The two-judge bench of the country's top court was headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim.

Barrister Masroor Shah appearing on behalf of the applicant submitted that Munir is a computer operator in a government office in Haripur district and the girl Shagufta, who is his classmate, lives in Peshawar. He contended that Munir had created the account in the name of Shagufta with her consent.

He also expressed apprehension over the court's denial of bail and said such kind of cyber laws might be misused.

PTI