Supreme Court fixes hearing for Dua Zahra case on June 23

• Dua's father had approached top court to challenge decision of SHC.
• A three-member bench of the apex court will be hearing case. 
• SHC on June 8 allowed teenager to decide her own fate.

KARACHI: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday fixed the date for the hearing of a petition filed against the decision of the Sindh High Court which had allowed 14-year-old Dua Zahra to decide her own fate.

A three-member bench of the apex court will be hearing the case this Thursday on Dua’s father’s petition.

Dua had made headlines across the country after she had mysteriously disappeared from Karachi in April but later declared that she had run away from her home to marry 21-year-old Zaheer Ahmed.

Following the incident, her father — Mehdi Kazmi — had tried recovering his daughter, saying that since she was underage, her marriage was illegal according to Sindh laws.

However, the SHC — on June 8 — had issued a verdict in favour of Dua, allowing her to decide if she wants to go with her parents or her husband.

"In light of all the evidence, this is not a case of kidnapping," said the three-page written order by Justice Junaid Ghaffar.

Unsatisfied with the court's ruling, Kazmi submitted a petition to the top court in which he pleaded for an immediate hearing of the case and called the SHC's decision faulty.

The petition also stated: "The medical records revealed Dua's age to be 17. According to National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and academic documents, she is 14 years old."