A day after Dua Zehra, the girl who went missing from Karachi in April, was recovered and taken back to Karachi for the second time by the police — the Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered that she be sent to a shelter home while medical tests are conducted to confirm her age.
A day after Dua Zehra and her now-husband Zaheer Ahmed were found in Bahawalnagar and brought back to Karachi, they were presented before the high security SHC, where Justice Junaid Ghaffar gave the order for the medical test.
The teenage girl, her parents and Sindh Advocate General were present in court.
Upon the girl's entry in the courtroom, her mother attempted to embrace her, but was stopped by security officials who said she didn't have permission to meet Dua Zehra.
Dua Zehra while recording her statement once again stated that was 18-years-old, saying, ""I was not kidnapped. I married Zaheer of my free will and want to live with him."
However, her father's counsel presented birth certificates and academic documents that showed her to be of 14 years of age. "They clearly show that she was born on April 27, 2008, which proves that she is 14 years and a few months old," he said.
The Sindh Advocate General contended that no rule of Sindh was broken, as the law of Punjab, where the marriage was contracted, does not disallow marrying a minor, at which Justice Junaid said the petition has become redundant.
He ordered that the girl be sent to a shelter home while a medical test was conducted to determine her age.
The parents of the child requested 10 minutes to meet their daughter, however, Dua refused.
"What can we do when she, herself, has refused," Justice Ghaffar said. "[Her] parents are standing here ... they are worried ... but we have to consider the law."
A day after Dua Zehra and her now-husband Zaheer Ahmed were found in Bahawalnagar and brought back to Karachi, they were presented before the high security SHC, where Justice Junaid Ghaffar gave the order for the medical test.
The teenage girl, her parents and Sindh Advocate General were present in court.
Upon the girl's entry in the courtroom, her mother attempted to embrace her, but was stopped by security officials who said she didn't have permission to meet Dua Zehra.
Dua Zehra while recording her statement once again stated that was 18-years-old, saying, ""I was not kidnapped. I married Zaheer of my free will and want to live with him."
However, her father's counsel presented birth certificates and academic documents that showed her to be of 14 years of age. "They clearly show that she was born on April 27, 2008, which proves that she is 14 years and a few months old," he said.
The Sindh Advocate General contended that no rule of Sindh was broken, as the law of Punjab, where the marriage was contracted, does not disallow marrying a minor, at which Justice Junaid said the petition has become redundant.
He ordered that the girl be sent to a shelter home while a medical test was conducted to determine her age.
The parents of the child requested 10 minutes to meet their daughter, however, Dua refused.
"What can we do when she, herself, has refused," Justice Ghaffar said. "[Her] parents are standing here ... they are worried ... but we have to consider the law."