LHC restrains police from harassing Dua Zehra's in-laws

Dua presented in court, mother-in-law request to accompany her not accommodated

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) stopped police from harassing Dua Zehra's in-laws on Friday while hearing a petition on the case after she was presented before the court.

A petition seeking directives to police high-ups against harassment of Dua's in-laws was heard by LHC earlier today, after the Karachi teen's mother-in-law Noor Munir filed a plea against the police.

The inspector general of police, DIG, SHOs of different police stations were made respondents in the petition.

Munir contended that the cops are harassing her and her family on Dua Zehra's issue and requested the court to pass directions to the concerned officials to put an end to the alleged harassment.

Mehdi Ali Kazmi, Dua's father had also filed a request on June 8 to reject Noor Munir's petition. He maintained that since Dua had already been presented in the Sindh High Court (SHC) the petition filed in the LHC had become inactive, there was no justification for presenting her before the LHC.

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During the hearing today, Dua Zehra along with her husband was produced before the LHC amid tight security. As the proceedings commenced, advocate Rai Khurram argued the case and produced the order of SHC.

Subsequently, Justice Tariq disposed of the petition with a direction to the police to stop harassing the petitioner and her family members.

The counsel also argued that since her mother-in-law was present in court so it would be appropriate if Dua is allowed to go with her, to which Justice Tariq again repeated the word “the petition is disposed of”.

‘Dua Zehra not kidnapped’

The SHC on June 7 had issued a written order in the case, observing that there was no evidence to suggest that the girl had been abducted.

“I got married of my own free will. No one kidnapped me; I want to go with my husband Zaheer and do not wish to see my parents,” revealed Dua in a statement recorded under oath before the SHC.

A two-member bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar, in its written order, said that the girl stated that she was 17 to 18 years old and had married out of her own free will.

The bench observed that Dua claims that her father had filed a false case of kidnapping, though he knew that she had gone on her own free will. “No evidence was found of the girl's abduction,” the court remarked.

'Dua wants to go home'

During the hearing on June 8, the SHC had allowed the parents to meet their daughter for 10 minutes, after reserving its decision on the teenager's recovery plea.

However, after the meeting, the girl's father, Mehdi Ali Kazmi, reached up to the judge's rostrum and claimed that the girl in the private meeting had said that she wanted to go home.

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The court questioned his statements and maintained that Dua Zehra had signed an affidavit before the court saying that she did not want to go with her parents.

"Despite the affidavit, you are asking us to issue another order," the court remarked.

Dua Zehra’s father reiterated his claim, much to the chagrin and disbelief of the high court.

According to judicial sources, the parents' claim was false. Apparently, the parents had kept begging Dua to go home with them but she sat quiet and did not even look at her parents.

They further cited the girl's refusal to converse with her parents as a reason for the meeting to end before a full 10 minutes.