A court in Lahore on Saturday allowed teenage married girl Dua Zehra to be shifted to Karachi, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The Lahore District Court earlier in the day reserved its verdict but pronounced it in the afternoon.

As per the Sindh High Court order, a team from Karachi has already landed in Lahore to take Dua Zehra to a shelter home in the provincial capital of Sindh.

Earlier, a Karachi police team reached Lahore to take custody of teenage married girl Dua Zehra but the court reserved its judgement regarding her handing over to the Sindh authorities.

On the other hand, Dua’s lawyer who filed a petition against the shifting of the Karachi teenage girl in the Judicial Magistrate District Court of Judge Rizwan Ahmad argued before the court that the girl did not want to go back to Karachi as she feared for her life over there. He said he wanted to record her statement under 164 in the Lahore District Court. He alleged that Dua’s father Mehdi Kazmi was exploiting his daughter for his financial benefit. 

Ali Hassan Jafri advocate said that he met with Dua who made some other revelations. He said that Dua’s original date of birth was April 27, 2006. He told the court that his clients wanted Dua’s ossification test and Dua’s father was made party to the case but he didn’t turn up. 

However, Mehdi Kazmi’s lawyer contended that the Judicial Magistrate Court did not have the jurisdiction to pass an order for the ossification test. He said that the case was sub judice in Karachi trial court and to hear another petition or take notice on it was tantamount to interfering in the jurisdiction of Sindh High Court.

The police team told the court that they reached Lahore to take Dua’s custody as the girl would be presented before the Sindh High Court on July 25.

After hearing arguments from both the lawyers, the court reserved its judgement regarding whether police would be allowed to take the girl back to Karachi or she would stay in Lahore’s shelter home. 

 

Reporter Husnain Olakh