SHC to announce verdict in Dua Zahra case shortly

A two-member bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) will announce its verdict today on a petition filed by Syed Mehdi Ali Kazmi about the alleged kidnapping and child marriage of his daughter Dua Zahra, the teenager who had mysteriously disappeared from Karachi in April but was later discovered to have run away from home to marry 21-year-old Zaheer Ahmed.

The SHC has reserved its verdict in the high-profile case and it will be announced shortly. A two-member bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Iqbal Kalhoro, heard the case.

At the outset of today’s hearing, the police produced Zaheer Ahmed, Dua’s husband, in court.

The SHC had summoned Zaheer to court through a notice.

During the proceedings, Justice Kalhoro remarked that Dua must be brought to Karachi and the case will be heard in the city as she went missing from there.

"There are shelter homes in Karachi where security arrangements will be made. There will be no threat to the girl in Karachi," the judge remarked.

He asked Zaheer's lawyer if he wants Dua to not get shifted to Karachi. At this, the lawyer said that the girl cannot be moved to Karachi or forced to meet anyone if she doesn't want to.

"Even the court cannot tell the girl to meet anyone," he said.

At this, the court remarked that Dua had been declared a minor and, therefore, her statement had no legal value. It, however, observed that no order to give the girl into her parents' custody is being issued.

Meanwhile, the lawyers representing Sindh and the federal governments also favored shifting Dua to Karachi.

After this, the court reserved its verdict on Mehdi Kazmi's plea and said it will be announced later in the day.

Dua Zahra shifted to a shelter home in Lahore

A Lahore court on Tuesday sent Dua to a shelter home.

Dua appeared before a magistrate’s court and claimed her life was in danger as her parents threatened her. She also claimed that they used to physically abuse her.

“My parents are threatening me with dire consequences,” she said and pleaded to the court to be sent to a shelter home.