Lahore court orders transfer of Dua Zahra to Karachi

LAHORE: A Lahore court has ordered that Dua Zahra — the teenager who had mysteriously disappeared from Karachi in April, but was later discovered to have run away from home to marry 21-year-old Zaheer Ahmed — be shifted to Karachi.

Judicial Magistrate Rizwan Ahmed issued a written order after which Zahra will be shifted from Lahore to Karachi. The teenager will then be presented in front of the judicial magistrate in Karachi’s District West, the court states. The written order further directs that Dua Zahra be provided with security.

“No one should be allowed to meet Dua before she appears in the court,” the order reads.

The development takes place after the police filed an application to hand over Dua following judicial magistrate Karachi’s order. The order also reiterates the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) direction to present Dua in Karachi.

On July 21, a two-member SHC bench announced its verdict on a petition filed by the Zehra’s father Syed Mehdi Ali Kazmi pertaining to the alleged kidnapping and child marriage of his daughter following which the Sindh High Court ordered to shift Dua back to the port city.

Jusctice Kalhoro remarked that security arrangements for Dua will made in Karachi following threats and that she will remain in a shelter home.