Islamabad   -  A district and sessions court on Tuesday granted pre-arrest bail to the wife of a civil judge, accused of placing a poor teenage maid Rizwana under severe torture while confining her illegally in her house in a private housing society of the federal capital.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Dr Abida Sajid awarded bail before arrest to accused Somia Asim, wife of a civil judge.

The court ordered the accused to furnish surety bonds of Rs100,000.

The court directed the accused Somia Asim to cooperate with the investigators and appear before Additional District and Sessions Judge Farrukh Farid for the next hearing on August 7.

When the court assumed hearing in Rizwana torture case, the defence counsel tabled an application on behalf of Somia Asim, saying that the narrative painted in the FIR was fabricated. The defence counsel maintained that the lady landlord has hired services of Rizwana with the consent of her parents and no physical violence was committed against her.

The lawyer of Somia said she was innocence and insisted that his client was being maligned as part of a slander campaign being carried out against her husband, who is a civil judge of good reputation.

The lawyer argued that his client had never raised a hand on Rizwana but always treated her with the gentleness as she shows to her own three kids aged between nine to 12 years.

Her lawyer pleaded before the court for bail saying she will cooperate with the investigators of police and will provide them evidence of her innocence. Humak Police Station officials had registered a case against Somia, the wife of civil judge Chaudhry Asim Hafeez, under sections 506/342 of Pakistani Penal Code (PPC) on complaint of Manga Khan, the father of the victim triggering a storm of criticism against police and the government. Later on, police slapped more sections including attempted murder in the FIR against the accused