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Lahore court says 'missing' Karachi girl Dua Zehra free to go wherever she wants. Hours after Dua Zehra — the teenage girl who went missing from Karachi's Shah Faisal Colony last week — was recovered from Okara on Tuesday, a Lahore court turned down police's request to send her to Darul Aman and allowed her to go "wherever she wants".
Following her recovery, Dua was presented in the Model Town Court before Judicial Magistrate Tasawar Iqbal to record her statement.
The police requested the judge to send Dua to Darul Aman for her "security" while the girl asked for time before recording her statement.
In her statement, she said that she was "sane" and claimed to be 18, adding that she had come to Lahore from Karachi of her own "free will and no one had abducted me". She said she did not want to go to Darul Aman as she felt there was no danger to her life. Dua asked the judge to dismiss the police request.
Subsequently, the judge ordered that Dua be "allowed where ever she wanted to go and be set at liberty from the premises of the court as desired by her to go where ever she wants to". The court order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said she was "sui juris" (of age) and could not be forced to go to Darul Aman against her will.
The Punjab police had earlier said to have recovered Dua along with Zaheer Ahmad — the man who is said to have contracted marriage with her. According to the Lahore police spokesperson, the two were taken to the Okara District Police Office where their statements were recorded. They would then be moved to Lahore in police protection.
"We have been in touch with the Karachi police and have informed them about the recent development," the spokesman added.
The chief of Karachi's Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC), SSP Zubair Nazeer Shaikh, said that a team led by Inspector Saeed Thaheem was on its way to Lahore.
The senior police officer said Dua was expected to appear before a court in Lahore to record her statement.
On April 16, Dua's parents filed a first information report (FIR) alleging that their daughter had been kidnapped when she left the house to dispose some garbage. The incident had provoked an outcry, specially on social media, which had prompted authorities to take notice.
On Monday, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah revealed in a press conference that Dua's location had been traced but did not provide further details as he said the matter was “sensitive”.
Meanwhile, in a video statement earlier in the day, Dua said that she wasn't kidnapped and had married Zaheer out of "free will".
The 13-year-old girl said that she had left her house of her own accord. "I have married out of free will. No one forced me. I'm happy with my husband here. For God's sake, don't bother me," she stated.
While the minimum age for marriage under the Punjab Marriage Restraint Act is set at 16 for girls and 18 for boys, under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act 2013, nobody below the age of 18 can contract a marriage in the province.
Dua claimed that her parents were forcing her to marry someone else and frequently "beat her up". "No one has kidnapped me. I have come here out of choice and didn't bring any valuables along with me," she said.
Dua added that her parents were lying about her age. "I am an adult. My age is 18 [years], not 14 [years]." However, official documents shown to media by her father revealed she will turn 14 on April 27 (tomorrow).
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the girl and Zaheer approached the Lahore district and sessions court and filed a petition against Dua's father and cousin.
It stated that the respondents "forcibly entered her house [where she was living with Zaheer in Lahore]" on April 18 and tried to "kidnap" her.
"... Due to hue and cry, people of the locality gathered there and rescued me from the clutches of the respondents," the petition stated.
It added that her father and cousin ran away after extending "threats of dire circumstances to me and my husband".
Dua said in her application that the "respondents" had committed a "heinous offence" but the police wasn't recording her version. "Therefore, the accused may kindly be summoned and punished as per law," she added.
On the other hand, Dua's parents are adamant that their daughter had been kidnapped. At a press conference on Tuesday, her father said that "marrying an underage child comes under the section of kidnapping".
