Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Monday disclosed that the whereabouts of Dua Zehra, a teenage girl allegedly kidnapped from Karachi’s Al Falah area last week, have been traced. Shah did not provide further details as he said the matter was “sensitive”. Certain media reports claimed the girl had been found in Lahore. However, Lahore police denied these reports and said the search to locate the girl was underway.
Lahore DIG (Operations) Dr Mohammad Abid Khan said Karachi police had provided Lahore police with a copy of a nikahnama (marriage certificate).
“Police are searching for the girl using the address on the marriage certificate,” he said, adding that there was no truth to reports that she had been found by officials. “The real facts will only surface once she is recovered. Lahore police is in constant contact with Karachi police,” he said. The official said that teams had been formed and that Dua would soon be found. Under Pakistani law, marriage before the age of 18 is illegal. The incident had initially provoked an outcry, especially on social media, which had prompted authorities to take notice.
According to the police, 14-year-old girl Dua was kidnapped on April 16 when she left the house house to toss some garbage.
On Saturday, police investigators probing the case sought technical assistance from intelligence agencies to locate the teenager. The Anti-Violent Crime Cell chief had said that the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing (CCW), which has expertise in accessing social media groups, was also helping them technologically.
Separately, the FIA’s CCW head Imran Riaz visited Dua’s house last week with its four-member team, including a forensic expert, technical analyst, female investigation officer and female psychologist.
He said that the FIA had made “emergency contact with Google, Samsung and [an] online gaming platform”.
The Sindh government has been under criticism ever since the case emerged. Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh had alleged that the police were not taking the case seriously.
“The police’s lack of seriousness in the case is a matter of concern,” said the PTI leader, accusing the authorities of “misleading” the girl’s parents.
Sheikh added that the police and the provincial government appeared to have failed to recover the girl. The police, instead of performing their duty, were allegedly involved in the “character assassination” of the girl, he added.
The PTI leader had also advised PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to focus on Sindh instead of taking foreign trips.
