MINGORA, Sept 20: Civil judge-cum-alaqa qazi Mohammad Ishaq on Thursday rejected the fresh application of the accused in the Manglore swara case for bail.

The bail has been denied to the accused, including the local station house officer and members of a tribal jirga, for the third time.

The judge later adjourned the hearing until Sept 22.

Police said the accused had been arrested under sections 310-A and 506 of Pakistan Penal Code over involvement in the marriage of a 13-year-old girl to an elderly man under the swara custom.

The jirga had ordered the marriage to settle a dispute between two families in Beshbund area of Manglore.

The SHO was taken into custody for pressuring the girl’s family into withdrawing the case at the behest of its rival.

Police said cleric Azmat, who solemnised the marriage, had been sent on judicial remand.

They said the fate of the accused would be decided by a local court after medical tests were performed on the girl to determine her age. — Correspondent