A missing girl from Karachi Dua Zehra has reportedly been found in Pakpattan city of Punjab. A video of the girl emerges in which a girl claiming herself Dua Zehra says she has married at her own will and that she was not kidnapped.
In a video message, the girl claims she is not underage and that she is eighteen years old. Her parents had claimed that she is 14 years old. Lahore Police has officially confirmed the girl and her husband, Zaheer Ahmed.
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The girl added that her parents were forcing her to marry someone else. The couple was reportedly staying at Zaheer’s uncle’s house. The video of the girl is widely circulating on social media.
On Monday, Karachi Police had claimed that she has married a man hailing from Lahore. Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, addressed a press conference in Chief Minister House and claimed to have found the whereabouts of the allegedly kidnapped minor, Dua Zehra. He, however, did not reveal any further details as he believed that the matter was very “sensitive.”
Lahore police has officially confirmed that Dua Zehra and Shahrukh are in their custody. According to a Nadra certificate shared by her father, Dua is turning 14 tomorrow (April 27).
In Punjab, the legal marriage age for girls is 16 years and it is 18 years in Sindh. pic.twitter.com/6752wYqIjj
— Roohan Ahmed (@Roohan_Ahmed) April 26, 2022
The case became further controversial as both Lahore and the Karachi police made contrasting claims. According to Karachi Police, the minor allegedly kidnapped from Karachi’s Al Falah area last week had been traced in Lahore and was now in police custody. At the same time, Lahore Police claims that no raid has been conducted, and no one of age 14 was recovered in the last 24 hours. Purportedly Dua Zehra left the house of her own accord to leave for Lahore, where she got married.
Read more: Karachi and Lahore police make contrasting claims: Dua Zehra abduction case
There had been a massive outcry on social media to recover the girl. Many claimed that the news of her marrying a boy seemed unacceptable. Others said that she might have been lured into taking this extreme step.