Daily Times

In a major development, the Punjab police have finally recovered Dua Zahra – the 14-year-old girl who had mysteriously gone missing from Karachi in April but later declared that she had run away from her home to marry 21-year-old Zaheer Ahmed – from the Chishtian area of Bahawalnagar, it emerged Sunday.

Confirming the report, Anti-Violent Crime Cell SSP Zubair Nazir Sheikh said that Dua Zahra and her husband Zaheer Ahmed have been taken into protective custody. The couple was recovered from a lawyer’s house by the CIA police.

Dua has been recovered after over one-and-half months since going missing from Karachi.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Punjab police said that Dua Zahra and her husband, Zaheer Ahmed, have been sent to Karachi to further the case’s legal process.

In a bid to put pressure, the Karachi police have already taken all the family members of Zaheer Ahmed into its custody. Earlier, Dua Zahra’s family had lodged a report about her abduction on April 16, however, she later revealed on the internet that she had tied the knot with Zaheer Ahmed. Dua Zahra’s mother-in-law appealed to the prime minister and Punjab chief minister to provide the couple justice.

In a video statement, she said they were scared, hence, they took shelter here. She said the police took Zahra and Zaheer Ahmed into its custody.

“Dua Zahra is my daughter. Nobody kidnapped her,” the woman said, adding that she came here on her own. Dua’s mother-in-law said when they tried to send her back to her parents’ home, Dua refused. Therefore, they were compelled to get the couple married in the high court.