In a major development, the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday temporarily handed over Karachi teenage girl, who was found to have married a man in Punjab despite being underage and currently residing in a shelter home, to her parents.
According to the details, during the hearing today, Justice Iqbal Kalhoro of the SHC asked the girl whether she wants to live at the shelter home or with her parents. At this, the 14-year-old said that she wants to live with her parents.
At this, the SHC handed over the temporary custody of the girl to her parents against surety bonds worth Rs1 million. The court disposed of the petition and handed over the case to trial court to decide on permanent custody of the Karachi girl.
Read more: Dua Zehra ask parents to accept her and Zaheer with big heart
The judge also ruled that a child protection officer would visit the girl every Saturday along with a lady police officer. The police officer had to submit a report to the trial court after each meeting.
Alhamdulliha! Dua Zehra🕊️ is finally going home today.
This is the victory🕊️ of all the fathers who never give up on their daughters, no matter how much ridicule or humiliation they face at the hands of society.
More powers to you both @SyedaShehlaRaza & @MJibranNasir. pic.twitter.com/zzITNhaK2D
— Haider (@shaiderhrizvi) January 6, 2023
Karachi teenage girl case
The incident came into the limelight when the teenage girl went missing from her house in Karachi on April 16 and later surfaced and announced her marriage to 21-year-old Zaheer Ahmed.
Zaheer Ahmed and others were booked by the police for kidnapping an underage girl from Karachi. According to the police, Ahmed kidnapped the underage girl in the Al-Falah Colony area with the abetment of other co-accused and married her in Lahore.
Read more: Mother of Zaheer Ahmed apologizes to parents of Dua Zehra
In July, the Lahore court allowed her to live with her husband. The Model Town court, while issuing a verdict on the police’s plea to send the girl (14 years old according to her father’s claim and 18-year-old as per her own) to Dar-ul-Aman, rejected the police request and allowed her to live with her husband Zaheer Ahmed.
After a medical examination, it was revealed that the girl was underage and was then shifted to a shelter home on SHC orders.