KARACHI: A local court on Wednesday allowed time to an investigating officer (IO) to submit a final challan in Dua Zehra case, after fresh investigation revealed that the teenage girl was kidnapped from Karachi and got illegally married to Zaheer Ahmed in Punjab.

Dua’s purported husband Zaheer, his mother and 20 other relatives, and cleric Hafiz Ghulam Mustafa have been accused of allegedly kidnapping the underage girl from Karachi, shifting her to Punjab and solemnising her illegal child marriage.

On Wednesday, when the matter came up before Judicial Magistrate (East) Aftab Bhugio, IO DSP Shaukat Ali Shahani was supposed to file the final challan against the detained and absconding suspects.

On the last date, while rejecting a “C” class investigation report filed by the IO seeking cancellation of the case, the magistrate had told him to further investigate the matter, besides directing the provincial health secretary to ensure fresh ‘age estimation test’ of Dua Zehra to determine her actual age.

At the outset, IO Shahani moved an application stating that a Karachi police team had already left for Lahore to arrest the purported groom, Zaheer, and other suspects, who had allegedly facilitated and arranged the child marriage and sheltered the couple afterwards.

He further submitted that Zaheer and other fleeing suspects could not be arrested so far and requested for a 10-day time to enable the police to arrest and bring them to Karachi to complete the investigation and subsequently file the final challan.

On the other hand, the state prosecutor informed the court that a sessions’ judge had on July 20 ordered the additional IG (investigation) to change incumbent investigating officer Shahani. However, he said, such order of the court had not been received by the police high-ups.

He undertook that the investigation into the case would be transferred from IO Shahani to any other honest and competent officer in compliance with the court’s order, once the same is received by the police’s investigation department’s chief. Until then, the court should adjourn the hearing, he pleaded.

Granting requests by the prosecutor as well as IO Shahani, the magistrate allowed time to the police high-ups to submit a final challan on the next date and adjourned the hearing till August 1.

Contrary to its previous claim that the case pertaining to Dua’s kidnapping and child marriage was false, IO Shahani had told a sessions court on July 16 that the teenage girl was not only kidnapped from Karachi, but also shifted to Lahore, where Zaheer solemnised illegal child marriage with her.

A day ago, the sessions judge had ordered the AIG (investigation) to transfer the case’s investigation from IO Shahani for being “unprofessional and incompetent” and entrust the same to a competent and trained police officer of DSP rank who has the experience of investigating such cases.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2022