Sindh police get two-day transitory remand of marriage witness in Dua Zehra case

Official says marriage certificate fake, '14-year-old girl cannot consent to marriage'

The Sindh police investigating officer of the Dua Zehra case on Wednesday implicated the witness in the teenager's marriage from Lahore, who will be brought to Karachi for a two-day transitory remand.

In a video posted on Twitter, an official of the Sindh police stated that Asghar Ali, a witness to the marriage between the teenager and Zaheer Ahmed, had been apprehended by the Punjab Police and handed over to the IO in the case.

He also claimed that an investigation was conducted into the validity of the marriage certificate, verifying it as fake.

دعا زہرا کیس
اہم پیش رفت
شکریہ شہلا رضا صاحبہ
شکریہ سندھ پولیس
شکریہ سندھ گورنمنٹ @SindhGovt1 @sindhpolicedmc8 @BBhuttoZardari @SyedaShehlaRaza pic.twitter.com/1utpxF6XyH

— Syed Zafar Abbas (@ZafarJdc) May 18, 2022

The official added: “Asghar’s remand will be extended and we will arrest everyone involved, a 14-year-old girl cannot consent to marriage.”

He furthered that the accused had “misused the honourable court’s authority.” The police also stated that the accused will be transferred to Sindh where he will be tried for Zina amongst other crimes.

“We will not spare them,” he said, adding that they will also trace Dua Zehra and recover her soon.

The accused is to be tried in Sindh, where the legal age for marriage is 18 under the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act passed in 2014.

Read: Dua Zehra’s husband, police issued notices on teenager’s alleged abduction

On May 13, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had directed Dua Zehra to appear at the next hearing while issuing a written order on her father, Mehdi Ali Kazmi's, request regarding alleged kidnapping and child marriage.

It was stated that police protection should be given to Dua and her family, and her wedding with Zaheer Ahmed on April 17 should be declared illegal.

As per the National Database and Registration Authority record, Dua Zehra was 14 years old at the time of her 'free-will' marriage with Zaheer Ahmed which was against the Restraint of Child Marriage Act.