ISLAMABAD: An Indian woman, Uzma, on Monday alleged that she was forced to marry Pakistan citizen Tahir Ali on gunpoint.
According to a statement issued by Pakistan’s foreign office, the Indian High Commission contacted Pakistani authorities and informed that 20-year old Uzma married Pakistani man Tahir Ali but found out that he was already married and a father to four upon reaching Pakistan.
Talking to the media, Tahir Ali said that Uzma was aware of his marriage beforehand, but if she “does not wish to live with him, it is her right to do so.”
According to Ali, his wife hails from New Delhi, India and the two first met in Malaysia.
“Uzma travelled to Pakistan on May 1 via the Wagha border, and we got married in Buner on May 3,” Ali stated.
He added that two days after they got married, Ali visited the Indian High Commission in Islamabad along with Uzma to obtain an Indian visa, following which he lost contact with his wife.
Uzma, however, claimed that her immigration documents were snatched and she was harassed and tortured regularly while living with her Pakistani husband.
She filed a case under the Pakistan Penal Code section 506, and recorded her statement in front of the magistrate on Monday, stating she did not want to leave the Indian High Commission in Islamabad till she could safely travel back to India.
According to the Pakistan High Commission, Uzma’s immigration documents state that she travelled to Pakistan on a visit visa.
The Pakistani authorities declared that the Indian citizen did not disclose her plans to marry in Pakistan when she applied for the visa and instead expressed her intent to visit her relatives in Pakistan.