LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday stopped Punjab police from harassing mother-in-law and other in-laws of Karachi teenage girl Dua Zahra, who had gone missing from her hometown Karachi and later surfaced in Punjab claiming she had married of her own free will, ARY News reported.
Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh of the Lahore High Court heard the petition of filed by Dua Zahra’s mother-in-law Noor Fatima and other in-laws. The Inspector general of police (IGP) Punjab, DIG, SHOs of different police stations were made respondents in the petition.
During the hearing today, Dua Zehra along with her husband was produced before the LHC amid tight security.
As the proceedings begin, advocate Rai Khurram argued the case and produced the order of SHC before the Lahore court.
Subsequently, Justice Tariq disposed of the petition with a direction to the police not to harass the petitioner and her family members.
SHC verdict
The Sindh High Court (SHC) Wednesday announced a reserved verdict in the Dua Zehra case, allowing the Karachi teenage girl to decide whether she wants to live with her parents or go with husband.
A two-member bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar, issued written order in Dua Zehra case, the Karachi teenager girl who had gone missing from her hometown Karachi and later surfaced in Punjab.
The SHC, in its written verdict, observed that no evidence was found that the girl had been abducted and stopped authorities concerned from registering abduction cases.
“No evidence was found of the girl’s abduction,” the court ruled.
The three-page written verdict ordered the investigation officer (IO) to submit interim challan and medical record of Zehra.
The case
It is pertinent to mention here that Dua Zehra’s family had approached police, hours after she went missing from near her house in Alfalah Town in Karachi on April 16, and had appealed through a number of channels for help in finding their daughter.
Days after disappearance, police found out that Dua Zehra had married a boy named Zaheer in Lahore.
A Lahore court allowed Dua to live with her husband. The Model Town court, while issuing verdict on police’s plea to send the girl (14-year-old according to her father’s claim and 18-year-old as per her own) to Dar-ul-Aman, rejected the police request and allowed Dua Zehra to live with her husband Zaheer Ahmed.
She was then produced before SHC where the court ordered a medical examination of the girl. The medical examination stated that she is aged between 16 to 17-year-old.
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