Peshawar : A Pakistani court denied bail to an Afghan woman who was immortalised on the cover of National Geographic magazine in the 1980s and arrested last week on fraud charges, days after the Interior Minister indicated she may soon be released on humanitarian grounds, reports PTI.Sharbat Gula, who attained fame on the cover of an issue of the National Geographic magazine, has been in police custody since October 26 for allegedly having obtained fake identity papers to stay in Pakistan as a refugee.
The special court in Peshawar had reserved its verdict a day earlier and today rejected her bail application citing a lack of evidence to prove her Pakistani citizenship. The green-eyed Gula was arrested from her Peshawar residence for alleged forgery of a Computerised National Identity Card. During the bail hearing, Gula’s lawyer had told the court that his client is the sole bread earner of her family and is suffering from Hepatitis C.
Earlier in the week, Gula was sent to prison on judicial remand by a local court. She faces up to 14 years in jail. Her arrest highlighted the plight of millions of Afghan refugees staying in Pakistan. Pakistan has provided safe haven for millions of Afghan refugees who fled their country after the Soviet invasion of 1979.
