Pak to Send Back Indian Woman Married to Pakistani at Gunpoint

Pakistan will repatriate an Indian woman, who alleged sexual abuse after her forced marriage with a Pakistani man.

Photo used for representational purposes. (Photo: iStock)

Pakistan will send back an Indian woman, who said she was sexually abused after her forced marriage with a Pakistani citizen at gunpoint, once all legal requirements in the case are completed, a media report said on Tuesday.

Citing sources, Geo TV reported that the Indian High Commission has sent a copy of the woman's statement made before the magistrate, and other relevant documents, to the Pakistani foreign ministry.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan was cooperating in the matter, expecting the woman, identified as Uzma, would soon get her travel documents, it added.

However, the Pakistani authorities said the case was in the court and the woman would get her documents after legal procedures are completed.

Uzma, filed a plea with a court in Islamabad on Monday, against her husband Tahir Ali, alleging that she was being harassed and intimidated by him. She also recorded her statement before magistrate Haider Ali Shah.

She told the magistrate that she came to Pakistan to see her relatives and not for marriage, a court official told.

I was forced to marry at gunpoint and my immigration documents were also taken away from me.

Uzma, in a statement to police

Uzma, who was brought to the court under strict security, also alleged in her statement that she was subjected to violence and sexual abuse by Tahir.

She added that she does not want to leave the Indian High Commission premises till she could safely travel back to India.

The court adjourned the case till 11 July and issued notices to Tahir to appear for next hearing. It also summoned cleric Humayun Khan, who solemnised the marriage, to appear in person in the court on the next hearing.

The woman's brother met the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi on Monday, and requested the government's help to rescue his sister at the earliest, said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay.

The High Commission has provided her necessary consular and legal assistance. It is coordinating with Pakistan Foreign Office for the safe return of the lady to India and is also in touch with her family in India on the matter

Gopal Baglay, Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria had, on Monday, said in a statement that "the Indian High Commission informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that an Indian national, Ms Uzma, 20, had approached them with the request to be repatriated to India."

Tahir was not available for comments, but Uzma's father-in-law Nazir ur Rehman told the BBC that Uzma contracted court marriage with his son before local judge in Daggar, the main town of Buner district in Khyber Pakhtunkwa on 3 May.

"The judge had asked her if she was marrying with free will and she said yes," according to Rehman.

He also said that his name was written as her relative in the visa application filed with Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. He also said that Uzma knew that Tahir was already married and had four children.

Tahir in his application to local police station on 5 May had said they had come to Indian High Commission to get a visa as Uzma's brother in India had invited them for their honeymoon.

He said he stayed outside and Uzma went inside the High Commission, but never came back. He had asked police to help recover his wife who in his opinion was held against her will.

According to reports, Uzma's husband met her in the High Commission this morning but he was not present in the court. Tahir had earlier told media that Uzma was aware of his first marriage.

Uzma reached Pakistan on 1 May and travelled to Buner district in the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtukhwa where she was allegedly forced to marry Tahir. The couple reportedly met in Malaysia, where Tahir was working as taxi-driver.

The Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi said that the immigration documents state that Uzma obtained the visa under the visit category.

Pakistani authorities have said she did not share her plans to marry in Pakistan when she applied for the visa and expressed her intent to visit her relatives in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, a page of Nikah (marriage) document of the couple, filled in Urdu and available on local media, shows that Uzma, D/o Muhammad Noshad, is an Indian citizen.

She has signed it with full name, starting with Dr (doctor). But only "Dr Uzma" is clear while the last name cannot be deciphered from signatures.

According to the document, Tahir promises to take her to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj pilgrimage for Mehr – a gift from husband to his wife at the time of the marriage.

(With PTI inputs)