Qarshi Jam-e-Shirin made sure to distance itself from a video interview with Dua Zehra, who went missing from her Karachi home and later surfaced in Punjab, and her husband Zaheer Ahmed.
A bottle of syrup of the said brand was prominently displayed on the table in the video, leading social media users to speculate that the brand had sponsored the video.
The interview was conducted by Zunaira Mahum, a content creator, who interviewed the teenage girl who was reported missing from Karachi’s Shah Faisal Colony on April 16. The video was posted on June 13.
Social media users quickly assumed that the brand had sponsored the interview as the host asked questions about Dua and Zaheer’s favorite drinks and tilted her head towards the bottle on the table. Several called for a boycott of the brand.
Meanwhile, Jam-e-Shirin took to Instagram on Thursday and distanced itself from the interview on its social media pages. It clearly stated that it was not informed about the use of the drink before the video was uploaded online. The brand said, “appropriate action will be taken in this regard”.
In the statement posted on Instagram stories, the brand wrote that it conducts its media communications with “dignity, upholding high moral standards” and was “surprised” at the prominent visibility of its brand during the interview.
Here is the official statement:
It promised an investigation into the issue and reassured consumers that it had nothing to do with the interview. The post also claimed that the production team did not take permission prior to displaying and mentioning Jam-e-Shirin in the interview.
Latest development in the case
No evidence of the girl’s kidnapping has been found yet. Reports continue to claim that Dua went to Punjab on her own and tied the knot.
Karachi police additionally stated that her ‘nikkah’ was not performed in Sindh. A new challan claims that suspects in the case are exempt from Section 216 of the Sindh Child Act since they married in Punjab.
The police also stated that the two arrested suspects, Ghulam Mustafa and Ashar, were found innocent and requested their release by the court. Dua was reportedly apprehended in Punjab’s Chishtian on June 5 and brought before the Sindh High Court on June 6. On June 8, the SHC granted the teenager the right to choose whether she wants to go with her parents or with her husband.
In a three-page written order, Justice Junaid Ghaffar stated that the verdict was based on the testimony. “Based on the evidence, this is not a kidnapping case,” the order stated. “…the alleged/minor Dua E Zehra Kazmi is set at liberty to decide with whom she intends to reside and go along.”
The court further ordered that the petition for her recovery filed by her father Mehdi Ali Kazmi be dismissed since his daughter’s situation does not meet the definition of kidnapping. The case earlier took a turn for the worse with the release of a video statement and the filing of a case against her father and cousin.
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