Dua Zehra's plea to declare nikahnama forged, void disposed of

A Karachi court has rejected a jactitation of marriage suit filed by Dua Zehra, the teenage girl who was allegedly kidnapped from Karachi and later found to have married in Punjab in 2022.

Civil Judge (East) Muhammad Nouman Jatoi declared her marriage with Zaheer Ahmed, as well as their Nikahnama, valid.

In her suit, the girl pleaded with the court to declare the impugned Nikahnama forged and void ab initio for "being a result of fear, pressure, duress and coercion on the plaintiff" and due to her being underage at the time of its execution.

The court was requested to restrain defendant Zaheer from making the "false claim" of being lawfully married to the plaintiff and having entered into a valid marriage contract with her permanently and during the pendancy of this suit.

After hearing arguments, the judge ruled: "The marriage between the contracting parties so also the Nikkahnama is hereby declared as valid, while, the prayer regarding to restrain the defendant is hereby dismissed."

However, the court said the plaintiff had liberty to approach the relevant court for dissolution of the marriage.

Last year, a family court had permanently handed over Dua Zehra's custody to her parents, who waged a legal battle after their daughter went missing in April 2022.

Her disappearance triggered widespread criticism on social media and the Sindh High Court had also sent packing an acting inspector general of police over his failure to recover the girl. She was finally recovered from Bahawalnagar and later shifted to a shelter home in Karachi on the court's directive.

In January 2023, the SHC had granted interim custody of the girl to her parents until a final decision was announced by a family court on their application seeking her permanent custody.