Father moves SHC for Dua Zahra’s recovery, dissolution of her marriage

The father of Dua Zahra, an underage girl who married a Lahore-based boy, moved the Sindh High Court on Tuesday, seeking recovery of his daughter and dissolution of her illegal marriage.

Filing a petition in the SHC, Zahra’s father Syed Mehdi Ali Kazmi submitted that her daughter was underage, a fact which had been proved in a medical board’s report, and her marriage should therefore be declared as invalid.

He said Zaheer Ahmed had kidnapped her daughter from Karachi and forcibly married her in Punjab by falsely declaring her age as 18 years.

 He said the medical board constituted by the court had confirmed that Zahra age was about 15 years old and that proved that she was underage and her marriage could not be declared lawful under the Punjab Marriage Registration Act.

The high court was requested to declare the marriage unlawful and hand over the custody of girl to the petitioner; besides, criminal proceedings may be initiated against Zaheer Ahmed under the penal law.