Kidnapped girl case: IO seeks more time to submit interim charge sheet

KARACHI: The investigation officer (IO) Saeed Rind has sought more time to file interim charge sheet in the ‘kidnapped’ Dua Zehra underage marriage case.

Major developments were witnessed in the Dua Zehra abduction and underage marriage case as the investigation officer (IO) sought more time to submit an interim charge sheet. The plea was accepted by the district and sessions judge East and adjourned the hearing till August 13.

In another plea, the court announced its verdict and rejected to conduct the medico-legal examination of Dua Zehra again. The plea was submitted by the girl’s father Mehdi Ali Kazmi. Earlier, the judicial magistrate had also rejected to order a medical examination of the girl.

Dua Zehra case: Zaheer Ahmed’s lawyer seeks adjournment of hearing again

During the hearing, the prime suspect, Zaheer Ahmed and his brother Shabbir Ahmed did not appear before the court today.

According to News360 correspondent, during the hearing, the names of Zaheer and Shabbir were called in the courtroom, however, they were not present there.

It was learnt that Kazmi’s lawyer will seek sex trafficking charges against the accused Zaheer Ahmed besides pleading with the court to order his remand to ascertain more facts.

Dua Zehra: Jibran Nasir shows concerns over access of ‘strangers’ to Dar-ul-Aman

In another development, the nikahkhawan and the witness told the court that they were trapped in the case besides revealing that there was no nikah solemnised for Dua and Zaheer.

It should be noted that Dua Zehra, a young girl from Karachi, went to Lahore and got married to a boy named Zaheer Ahmed, but the girl’s father took a stand that his daughter is 14 years old while the minimum age for marriage in the country is 18.

Mehdi Kazmi’s lawyer continuously struggled to prove that Dua Zehra was underage, while the medical report stated that her age was between 16 and 17 years, which was rejected by Kazmi and his lawyer and filed an application for a new medical examination.

The report of the new medical board made at the request of Mehdi Kazmi’s lawyer stated that Zehra’s age is 15 years, after which, on the instructions of SAPM Salman Sufi, the girl was sent to Karachi and Zaheer Ahmed was recovered.