Medical test conducted on the orders of the Sindh High Court (SHC) to determine Dua Zehra's age has revealed that the child is 16 or 17. Karachi police have received the report, and it will be submitted before the high court during the next hearing of the case.
While Dua in her statement had claimed that she was 18 years old, her father had said that she was 14. The medical test has now revealed that the girl is indeed a minor. The minimum legal age for marriage in Sindh is 18 years.
Earlier, the high court ordered that Dua be sent to a shelter home while medical tests are conducted to confirm her age.
On Monday, 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.
While Dua in her statement had claimed that she was 18 years old, her father had said that she was 14. The medical test has now revealed that the girl is indeed a minor. The minimum legal age for marriage in Sindh is 18 years.
Earlier, the high court ordered that Dua be sent to a shelter home while medical tests are conducted to confirm her age.
On Monday, 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.