Dua Zehra’s father now moves SC

Sindh High Court ruled teenager can live with who she wants

KARACHI:

The father of Dua Zehra, a Karachi teenager who married of her free-will, has moved the Supreme COurt against the verdict of the Sindh High Court which allowed the girl to decide whether she wanted to live with her husband or parents.

According to the petition filed on behalf of Mehdi Ali Kazmi, the high court’s verdict was based on Zehra’s statement and the medical report related to the case.

It further said that the medical report states the girl’s age as 17, while it is 14 according to her educational documents and the record available with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).

The plea added that police submitted the challan in the ‘C’ class in the trial court, adding that the SHC decision was flawed. Kazmi also implored the apex court to hear the case on an urgent basis. The hearing of the case is expected to take place next week.

On June 7, the high court 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,” Zehra was quoted as saying in a recorded statement under oath before the SHC.

On the other hand, Kazmi maintains his stance that his daughter was abducted and forcibly married, and should be returned home.

In the ear;ier hearing before the high court, the bench allowed the parents to meet their daughter for 10 minutes, after reserving its decision on the teenager’s recovery plea.

Besides the parents, the girl’s maternal aunt was also part of the meeting that took place in the court chambers. However, after the meeting, the girl’s father, Mehdi Ali Kazmi, reached up to the judge’s rostrum and claimed that the girl said she wanted to go home.

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.

Medical report suggests ‘wrong’ age

Talking to the media following the hearing, Mehdi Kazmi stated that the medical report ordained by the court which showed his daughter to be of 16-17 years of age was “wrong” and that he had “challenged the medical report”.

His counsel contended that the medical report was “based on mala fide” and that they had official documents showing Dua’s real age.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2022.