AHMEDABAD: A sessions court at Mirzapur has refused bail to Carol Sujith Punnilethu, who was detained on charges of being a Pakistani citizen and having entered India and staying here illegally.
Additional sessions judge H A Shah on Thursday denied bail to the woman saying that if granted bail there are chances that she may flee to Pakistan and may not be available for the trial in future.
Punnilethu (36) was arrested last month after a complaint was filed in Sabarmati police station against her. The FIR was filed by the maternal relatives of her stepdaughter, for whose custody Punnilethu had entered into litigation in the Gujarat high court.
Her trouble began after her husband Sujith Methew died of Covid-19. Sujith’s 13-year-old daughter from his first marriage was living with this woman, and the child’s maternal uncle wanted her custody.
The child preferred the custody of her stepmother and this led the relatives to approach the police complaining about Punnilethu’s alleged Pakistani citizenship.
Punnilethu was booked under the Foreigners Act and for forging Indian citizenship proofs like various identity cards and certificates.
In her bail plea, she argued that the documents were prepared by her late husband and she had no idea about them. She also told the court that because of her incarceration, her stepdaughter and two other daughters from her first marriage are on their own at present.
Moreover, she also told the court that she is into the fifth month of pregnancy and granting her bail would be in the best interest of her children as well as for her health.
The government opposed her bail plea submitting that the charges are grave and expressed apprehension that once released on bail, the woman may escape to Pakistan.