KARACHI: Dua Zehra was shifted to Karachi from Lahore and sent to the Child Protection Bureau by the Sindh police.

Officials at the Child Protection Bureau confirmed her arrival and said that foolproof security measures had been taken for her.

A Lahore court on Saturday ordered shifting of teenage Dua back to Karachi. She was earlier sent to a shelter home in Lahore. Judicial Magistrate Rizwan Ahmed had directed the authorities to shift her to Karachi and produce her before a Karachi judicial magistrate.

He also ordered the authorities to provide security to Dua and no one should be allowed to meet her before her appearance in the court in Karachi.

The investigating officer of the Dua Zehra abduction case is set to produce the teenage girl before Judicial Magistrate Aftab Ahmed Bughio on Aug 1.

Last week, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had ruled since Dua Zehra was still a minor and a key witness in the case pertaining to her abduction, she cannot be permitted to stay on her own in Lahore till attaining maturity and disposal of the case.

On April 16, Dua’s parents filed an FIR alleging that their daughter had been kidnapped from Karachi. On April 26, she was recovered from Okara. Later, she told the Sindh High Court that she had not been kidnapped but left her home on her own and married Zaheer Ahmed of her own free will. She also claimed that she was 18 years old, but later a medical board found out his age between 15 and 16 years.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2022