Islamabad HC allows Indian woman to return home

She told judge that Pakistani national Tahir Ali “forced” her to marry him at gunpoint.

May 24, 2017 12:22 pm | Updated May 25, 2017 07:32 pm IST - KARACHI

A view of the Islamabad High Court.

A view of the Islamabad High Court.

An Islamabad High Court judge on Wednesday allowed Indian national Uzma to travel back to India. She had alleged that she was ''forced'' by a Pakistani to marry him and sexually assaulted.

On the orders of judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Delhi resident Uzma’s original immigration form, which was forcibly taken away by her husband Tahir Al, was returned to heri. Her visa was to expire on May 30. Ms. Uzma alleged that Ali forcibly married her and sexually assaulted her after that.

The court also ordered the police to provide security to the woman till the Wagah Border crossing.

Ali expressed his desire to meet Ms. Uzma in private and Justice Kayani said that they can meet in his chamber. However, Ms. Uzma refused to meet him. Justice Kayani remarked that if Ms. Uzma does not want to meet Ali, she will not be forced to do so.

During the hearing, Ms. Uzma fainted iand paramedics were called in. But she gained consciousness soon.

Ms. Uzma crossed into Pakistan through the Wagah Border on May 1. She was picked up by Ali, whom she met in Malaysia. They soon became friends.

Ms. Uzma sought refuge in the Indian High Commission on May 9 and filed a case against Ali in a local court. 

Ms. Uzma said she met Ali in Malaysia, where she had gone for two months last year. "He was very soft spoken and nice person and used to talk to me in English. When I came back to India and got again in touch with him he told me to come to Pakistan and forced me to come and meet his family. He sent me the sponsor letter and I crossed into Pakistan via the Wagah Border. That day, Ali gave her some medicine as she sat in the car and she became unconscious. She woke up at 10 p.m at the door of his residence, she said.

"That night, he sexually assaulted and tortured me and threatened to kill me if I do not sign the ''nikah nama'' [marriage papers]. They took my signature on the ''nikah Nama'' at gunpoint. They made me marry forcibly for which I was not mentally ready," she said in a statement before the judge. She added that she came to know that Ali was already married and had four children. 

Ali, who belonged to Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told journalists that all charges leveled against him by Ms. Uzma were false and she married him of her own free will.

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