Children of the grave

The investigating officer in Dua Zehra’s case has finally found the Call Detail Report (CDR) of Zaheer Ahmed, which has confirmed Zaheer’s presence in Karachi the day Dua Zehra went missing. This of course means that Zaheer — and whoever is backing him — coerced Dua Zehra to go with him to Lahore. Since the medical board, constituted specifically to ascertain Dua’s age, has stated that she is indeed a minor, the entire ordeal becomes a case for kidnapping.

Thanks to his legal counsel, Dua’s father has been able to bring out the blatant truth, which has been circling this entire matter since months. First it was Dua’s age that was an issue and then it was the Nikkahkhuwan and the veracity of the Nikkah that was brought to question. Let’s keep the judges and the police aside for now because they’ve been quite useful in this entire fiasco — use your grey matter to decide if that was sarcastic or not. But what has the investigating officer been doing this entire time?

Well, he has been completely uncooperative and has constantly mismanaged the entire case. At one point, he even submitted a class C challan before the court stating that there was no evidence of kidnapping or any malfeasance whatsoever. However, after the ossification report came in, clearly indicating Dua’s age to be 15 years, the officer changed his stance and continued with his one-legged ‘investigation’. What is this man doing? Can he not see what we all have been seeing since the start? Or have his eyes been forcefully shut by massive amounts of money, power and threats? Is it true that even individuals in state institutions are prone to manipulation at the hands of the elite?

I have been actively putting forth my opinions regarding Dua Zehra’s case and I will continue to analyse the situation as it unveils itself. I do not possess definite information regarding her situation and all my knowledge is attained from social media and news channels. But, on the face of it, it seems like a case of forced marriage. It has been proven that Dua is below the age of maturity and her nikkahkhuwan is already behind bars for solemnising an underage marriage. What more is needed to establish the fact that this was a crime to begin with?

And even otherwise, who is Zaheer? What family does he come from? Who are his parents? What does he do for a living? Why haven’t we been seeing more of Zaheer’s parents? What is more thought provoking is the fact that Zaheer lives in Lahore but he also has lawyers in Karachi. How is he paying for his legal representation all over the country? Who is bearing his expenses?

The Pakistani judicial system, specifically the criminal justice system, is in dire need of reformation. Once this case is resolved, we might see more of such similar cases where a girl or a boy might contest their age. The ‘honorable’ High Court and the ‘honorable’ Judge already discarded NADRA’s records, which showed Dua’s age to be 14 years. So, do these records and CNICs have no legal standing in courts? Can citizens blatantly refuse their own record stating it to be incorrect and erroneous? Where do we draw the line?

I’ve said it before in my articles and I’ll say it again: the perpetrators who kidnapped Dua have exploited the obvious flaws in our system that has long paved way for child mafias, pedophiles, and diabolical beings who use and abuse children. What’s desperately needed at this stage is trite legislation and strict implementation to ensure that children are counseled from a young age in order to protect themselves and their interests from mentally sick and disturbed men; men who will pry on them at any given opportunity. Dua might be saved in the end but not every child is that fortunate. Don’t let their innocence be robbed.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2022.

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