Following the Sindh High Courts (SHC) order for the police to verify Dua Zehra’s actual age, a medical board has declared that the child’s age is ‘nearest to 15 years’, confirming her parent’s earlier assertion regarding their child’s age.
According to Jibran Nasir, who is representing Dua’s father in the case, the medical board mandated by the court to determine Dua Zehra’s age has confirmed on Monday, following ossification and dentition tests performed on the child, that her age is ‘nearest to 15 years’.
Offences of Kidnapping, Child Marriages & Rape/Sexual Offences all are attracted to a case where girl child is under 16. IGP Sindh should take immediate action to remove current I.O. of case who has been telling media no case of Kidnapping is made & must immediate recover Dua..
— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) July 4, 2022
“Thus proven that NADRA documents are accurate and Dua in reality is a 14-year-old child,” said Jibran on Twitter, urging the Sindh High Court to remove the current Investigation Officer who he says had been insistent on the age of Dua Zehra —who had gone missing from her Karachi residence in April but was later found to have married Zaheer Ahmed in Lahore, to be 16-17 years.
A 10-member highly competent medical board formed by Sindh Health Department submitted the report in the court of judicial magistrate (East) ahead of the hearing of a case filed by Zahra’s father Mehdi Ali Kazmi for the determination of her age.
According to a report by Dawn, the medical report stated that X-rays of both her hands, elbows and wrists, her pelvis and the sternal ends of her clavicle were conducted. The board also conducted an OPG (orthopantomagram) X-ray as well as one of her lower mandible pre-molar teeth.
The physical examination, placed Dua’s age between 14-15 years. Dentition tests showed her age to be between 13-15 years. On the basis of epiphyseal closure assessed on radiological examination, Dua’s age was between 16-17 years, the report added, calling this an ‘unusual discrepancy’.
Overall, the members of the board concluded that her age was between 15-16 years, nearer to 15 based on physical examination and dentition.
A hearing on the matter will be held shortly.
