KARACHI: A 14-year-old girl, who had gone missing from outside her home in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh earlier this month, has been “recovered” from the eastern city of Lahore in Punjab province, the Sindh chief minister and police officials said Monday.
Dua Zehra Kazmi had gone missing from Karachi’s Al-Falah area on April 16, after she went out of her house to throw thrash.
Her father said they live on the first floor of the building and his daughter had gone down to the ground floor to dump trash, but she didn’t return.
When reported by the family last week, the incident sparked outrage on social media.
“Dua Zehra has been recovered,” Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said at a press conference in Karachi on Monday.
Shah’s comment came after media reported that the child had been recovered from Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, but the Sindh chief minister declined to share any further details because of the sensitivity of the case.
A specialized unit of the Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and paramilitary Rangers worked for the recovery of the missing girl.
“Dua Zehra has been recovered from Lahore, where she had gone last week,” a senior Karachi police official told Arab News. “The girl has been taken into custody and will soon be taken to Karachi.”
Dua is not the only teenager who went missing in Karachi, but two more teenaged girls have disappeared from the port city in recent days.
Nikahnamas of two of the girls, Dua and Nimra Kazmi, have also surfaced, while the family of the third girl has not yet formally lodged a complaint with the police.
The Lahore police, however, denied having recovered Dua, saying they were tracing the girl with the help of address on the nikahnama (marriage certificate) provided by the Karachi police.
“There is no truth to the reports of police finding Dua Zehra,” Dr. Abid Khan, deputy inspector-general (DIG) of police, said in a statement. “Teams have been constituted and the girl will be found soon.”
Khan said facts about the case would only come to fore after the girl’s recovery and the Lahore police were constantly in touch with their counterparts in Karachi.
Last week, an official overseeing the technical side of the case told Arab News Karachi police investigators believed the girl had not been kidnapped, but instead someone “trapped” her through an online gaming platform that served as the source of contact with her.
Nuzhat Shirin, chairperson of the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women, said the Sindh authorities had received nikahnamas of both Dua and Nimra.
“The family of Dua has shown us her Form-B, according to which she is 14, whereas the nikahnama shows her 18-year-old,” Shirin told Arab News.
She said once the girl is returned to Karachi, she would be kept with the child protection department, and that her marriage doesn’t stand as the law in Sindh requires a girl to be 18 to be married.
In Punjab, the law allows a 16-year-old girl to be legally tie the knot.
The Sindh inspector-general said they were waiting for the video statement of the girl after which more details would be shared, Shirin added.
Dua’s disappearance had drawn an outpour of anger from celebrities as well, who had urged the authorities to take immediate action for the safe recovery of the girl.
Actor Mahira Khan took to Twitter, praying for the girl to be “safe and sound.”
“Praying with all my heart for Dua Zehra… may she come home today... Safe and sound... Ameen,” the actor wrote.
Sajal Ali, another actor, said she was “deeply saddened to know about the disappearance of #DuaZehra.”
“Prayers for the safe return of this young girl,” she wrote.
