The Sindh Health Department on Tuesday formed a medical board to determine the age of teenage girl Dua Zehra – a resident of Karachi who had gone missing from the city some months ago and was later found to have got married in Punjab.
The formation of medical board comes after the Judicial Magistrate-East court in the hearing of alleged kidnapping of Dua Zehra ordered further investigation of the case and constitution of a medical board to determine the actual age of the girl.
Dua in previous court hearings said she is 18 years of age, and a medical test ordered by the Sindh High Court found she was 17. During the hearing today, the health department informed local court about the formation of a five-member medical board headed by Dow Medical College Principal Saba Sohail to find true age of Karachi teenage girl.
MS Services Hospital, Police surgeon and medical experts from Civil Hospital will be part of the medical board, the court told. MS Services Hospital also pleaded with the court to issue orders to present Dua Zehra on June 29 for medical checkup.
In previous hearing, the investigating officer (IO), had filed a challan before the judicial magistrate, urging the court to quash the FIR in Zehra case after categorizing the case as “C class”.
Meanwhile, Dua Zehra’s father on Tuesday filed petition in court for change of the investigation officer of the case. The counsel of Mehdi Kazmi has submitted a plea in the District and Sessions Court Karachi.
“Present investigation officer’s behaviour seems biased, complainant Mehdi Kazmi and the family have no trust over the IO,” according to the application. “We apprehend the investigation officer will not produce Dua Zehra for the check up to determine her age,” the complainant pleaded.
“We plead to the court for an order to change this investigation officer with a qualified officer,” the petition read.
