KARACHI: Dua Zehra, a minor who ran from her house to marry out of her own will, was last located in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Muzaffarabad (AJK), police told the Sindh High Court on Tuesday.

A two-member bench led by Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro, comprising Justice Agha Faisal heard the case for Zehra’s safe return to Karachi.

Justice Kalhoro was irked about the police’s failure to produce Zehra in court and ordered them to present her on May 30.

Punjab Police informed the Sindh inspector general (IG) that Zehra had moved to AJK. A Model Town Court in Lahore recorded Zehra’s statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the IG informed the court.

A judicial magistrate in Lahore had dismissed the police’s appeal seeking Zehra’s medical examination to ascertain her age. According to her birth certificate, Zehra is 14 years old, while she claimed that her age is 18 years.

Justice Kalhoro remarked the ultimate decision of the case would be taken in Karachi as the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013 was applicable here.

Provincial police as well as the interior secretary were ordered to locate Zehra and bring her back, while the judge also expressed displeasure at the CNICs of those involved not being blocked. The hearing was adjourned till May 30.

Zehra went missing from Karachi’s Korangi area on April 16 and was found in Punjab when she declared that she had married a young man, Zaheer, according to her own free will.