Dua Zehra presented before medical board for age redetermination

The Karachi teenager who contracted marriage of free will was presented before the medical board for determination of her age, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Police shifted Dua Zehra to Karachi from Lahore where a medical board would determine her age once again. Her husband Zaheer Ahmad also reached Karachi.

The medical board ran different tests of Dua including her teeth X-Ray, blood tests, body examination and other tests. 

The report of these tests is expected to be completed in 3-4 days. 

Dua’s parents also reached the hospital. 

The lawyer of Dua’s father, Jibran Nasir said in a series of tweets today that “DuaZahra has been produced before the Medical Board today for proper medical age assessment. Previously the medical report was prepared by one medical doctor which was in violation of standard practices and procedure. Please note all offences in this case are age specific.”

As per law during trial when considering evidence a medical report cannot override documentary proof such as NADRA certificates which have been issued prior to the date of crime. However since a flawed medical report was produced in this case it was imperative to challenge it

— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) July 2, 2022

The Sindh High Court on June 6 ordered a medical test of Dua who ran away from her house in Karachi’s Shah Faisal Colony in April and later found to have married a boy in Punjab. Her parents claimed that she was even below 14 at the time of her marriage. On the SHC order, the Civil Hospital, Karachi had conducted her test which verified that the girl’s age was between 16 to 17. 

But Dua’s father Mehdi Kazmi rejected the medical report terming it fake and requested fresh medical tests. He filed a fresh petition in the Court of Judicial Magistrate East in the last week of June and the judge ordered the police to continue investigation to determine the age of Dua Zehra. 

Dua’s father plea for IO change rejected

Meanwhile, a sessions court in Karachi on Saturday rejected Dua Zehra’s father application in which he pleaded with the court to change the investigation officer of the case. 

While announcing the judgement, the court said that it did not accept the C Class report of the IO yet. Dua is yet to be presented before the medical board, the verdict said adding that the court could not change the investigation officer at this stage of investigation.

Reporter Mumtaz Jamali