According to the medical board’s assessment of Dua Zahra’s ossification and dentition, the adolescent, who vanished from her Karachi home in April but was later discovered to have wed Zaheer Ahmed in Lahore, was between 15 and 16 years old.
Before the hearing of a case filed by Zahra’s father Mehdi Ali Kazmi for the determination of her age, a 10-member medical board on Monday submitted the report determining the age of the teenager in the court of judicial magistrate (East).
The test to determine her age was conducted a second time over Kazmi’s petition challenging an earlier test that suggested that the girl’s age was between 16 and 17.
Zahra’s age according to the fresh report is:
On the basis of physical examination — 14-15 years
On the basis of dentition evaluation and OPG examination — 13-15 years
On the basis of epiphyseal closure assessed through radiological examination — 16-17
“The consensus opinion regarding the overall age of Ms Dua Zahra D/O Syed Mehdi Kazmi is between fifteen to sixteen (15-16) years, nearer to fifteen years, based on physical examination and dentition,” the report concluded.
The court will hold hearing on the case on July 7.
Earlier, the lawyer representing the father of the teenager also confirmed that the medical board’s report of ossification and dentition tests performed on Dua Zahra has stated her age as “nearest to 15 years”.
Jibran Nasir, Kazmi’s attorney and a social rights activist, claimed on Twitter that the findings of the previous medical report, which determined the girl was between the ages of 16 and 17, have been refuted.
The Medical Board has verified the truth which Parents have been telling since 2.5 months. As per Board #DuaZehra is nearest to 15 yrs of age negating previous medical report which placed Dua at 17. Thus proven that NADRA documents are accurate & Dua in reality is a 14yr child.
— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) July 4, 2022
He continued by saying that it has been established that the paperwork that Zahra’s parents had provided, which claimed she was under 15, was accurate.
In reality, Nasir said, “Dua is a 14-year-old child.“
“The truth that Parents have been stating for the past 2.5 months has been confirmed by the medical board. According to the board, Dua Zahra is closer to 15 years old than the previous medical report, which had Dua’s age listed as 17. Having established that Dua is indeed a 14-year-old child and that NADRA documents are accurate, “He tweeted something.
The case hearing is expected to begin shortly.
