JOIN USPakistan court allows Indian woman to return
The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday allowed an Indian woman, who has been staying at the High Commission of India here after accusing a Pakistani man of marrying her at gunpoint, to return home.
Uzma, who is in her early 20s, is from New Delhi and had travelled to Pakistan earlier this month. She said Tahir Ali, whom she reportedly met in Malaysia and fell in love with, forced her to marry him in Pakistan on May 3.
Medical emergency
Uzma petitioned the court on May 12, requesting it to allow her to return home urgently as her daughter from her first marriage in India suffered from thalassemia — a blood disorder characterised by abnormal haemoglobin production.
Ali had petitioned the court, requesting that he be allowed to meet his wife. A single-judge bench of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard both the petitions on Wednesday. After hearing their arguments, he allowed Uzma to return to India.
The court also returned Uzma’s immigration papers which she said were taken away by Ali, who had submitted the documents on Tuesday after being told by the court to do so. It is not yet clear when she would leave for India.
‘Husband’ dejected
A dejected Ali said, “She has been allowed to return and I am unhappy because my point of view was not heard.”
Justice Kayani also ordered the police to escort her to the Wagah Border crossing between India and Pakistan. The judge asked Uzma if she wanted to meet Ali in his chamber, but she refused.
Some reports said Uzma collapsed in the court during the hearing and paramedics were called in to treat her.
Uzma arrived in Pakistan on May 1 and travelled to the remote Buner district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province where she was married to Ali on May 3. Later, she came to Islamabad and took refuge in the High Commission of India, alleging that she was forced to marry him at gunpoint.
Ali rejected the allegations and expressed his desire to work out their relationship. “She is still my wife. Neither has she asked for divorce nor I have divorced her,” he said. Under the law in Pakistan, Uzma’s lawyer can continue to represent her and she can come back to pursue the case.