Indian woman to be sent back after legal requirements complete: Pakistan

Islamabad: 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.

The Pakistan Foreign Office said Uzma would only be sent back once all legal requirements in the case are completed.

Uzma yesterday filed a plea with a court in Islamabad 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 PTI.

"I was forced to marry at gunpoint and my immigration documents were also taken away from me," she said, according to the official.

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, said the court official.

She further said 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 July 11 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 cleric has said that he had asked Uzma if she was marrying by free will and she responded in affirmative.

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

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

Uzma reached Pakistan on May 1 and travelled to Buner district in the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to marry Tahir on May 3. The couple reportedly met in Malaysia, where Tahir was working as taxi-driver.

However, the story took a turn when Uzma claimed she was forcefully married to Tahir and that she was unaware of him being already married.