Dua Zehra Case: LHC grants protective bail to Zaheer Ahmed till July 14

LAHORE (92 News) - The Lahore High Court granted protective bail to Zaheer Ahmed, the husband of Dua Zehra till July 14.

During the hearing, Justice Alia Neelum asked about the FIR being registered against the suspect to which Zaheer Ahmed’s counsel said that the case was registered on June 16. “The investigation officer has announced to re-investigate the matter and there are chances that his client could be arrested. The court should grant protective bail so that interim bail can be obtained from the concerned court.”

The court granted bail to Zaheer Ahmed till July 14.

 

Dua Zehra Case History:

Dua's parents had lodged a case in Karachi on April 16, alleging that their daughter was kidnapped and forced into child marriage.

Ten days later, Dua had appeared on the media along with Zaheer Ahmed and announced they had married in Lahore. She had denied that she was kidnapped and alleged that her parents were lying about her age as she was 18 years old.

When she was first taken into custody on April 26, a Lahore court had allowed the teenager 'to go wherever she wanted to and be set at liberty from the premises of the court as desired by her to go wherever she wants to'.

However, Dua's parents were adamant that their daughter had been kidnapped and said that she had been forced to give the statement.

The teenager's father had approached the SHC with a plea against the Punjab court's orders. Mehdi had stated in the petition that as per her educational documents, birth certificate and other records, Dua’s age was 13 and under the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013, it was illegal to marry a minor/underage. He had asked the court to order a medical examination of his daughter.

In the following days, Karachi police repeatedly failed to produce the teenager before the court, earning the judges' ire. Then Dua and Ahmad were recovered from Chishtian, Bahawalnagar, and brought to Karachi.