Newly-wed Indian woman asks to be repatriated from Pakistan

The case of an Indian woman named Uzma, married to a Pakistani man, who went ‘missing’ from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad last week, has taken a new turn as she appeared before a court in Islamabad on Monday alleging she was forced to marry her husband at gunpoint.

The mystery of the missing Indian bride caught the attention of authorities in Pakistan and India after her husband, Tahir Ali, lodged a complaint at a local police station in Islamabad on May 5.

He alleged that his wife, an Indian Muslim doctor, had been illegally detained by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad since early this week and there had been no word about her whereabouts.

However, on Monday, the Indian High Commission informed Pakistan’s Foreign Office that Uzma had approached them with a request to be sent back to India after learning about Tahir’s first marriage.

A few days after their marriage, the couple approached the Indian High Commission ─ ostensibly to get an Indian visa for the husband ─ at which point Uzma ‘went missing’.

An Indian embassy official said Uzma “sought refuge” at the High Commission, Pakistan daily Dawn reported.

During the court hearing, Uzma alleged Ali forced her into marriage at gunpoint, subjected her to abuse and confiscated her documents.

Judicial Magistrate Haider Ali Shah has ordered respondents, Tahir Ali and witnesses to the marriage ceremony, to submit a reply and fixed the next court hearing for July 11.

Meanwhile, Ali accused his wife of lying, saying she knew beforehand he was married with four children.

“She has been in the Indian embassy since May 5. I don’t know how her mental state is now and why is she lying,” he told local media.

According to reports, Ali met Uzma during a business trip in Malaysia eight months ago.

The two began a relationship.

Later, Uzma managed to reach Pakistan via Wagah border on May 1, 2017 and the couple formally married on May 3 in Buner district.

Soon after the wedding, the Indian woman suggested her husband could get a short period Indian visa so that the two could visit her relatives.

Ali was quoted as saying, after the couple tied the knot, they went to the Indian High Commission Office on May 5, 2017 for visa interview to visit their relatives in India, according to the Pakistani national, Tahir Ali.

Uzma’s brother in New Delhi asked her to visit India on her honeymoon and told her to contact a man named Adnan at the Indian embassy to sort out their visas for the trip, Ali claimed.

“At the Indian embassy window, she asked about Adnan. A while later, a man came out and took her inside through gate number six. I waited and waited, and then at 7pm I asked at the embassy gate if my wife Uzma was inside. They told me no one was inside,” Ali said in his report, quoted by local Pakistani media.

Tahir was later asked to leave the High Commission without the return of three cell phones the couple had deposited at the counter during security checks.

Suspecting that his wife had been forcefully detained by the Indian officials at the mission, he lodged a report with police regarding his missing wife where he was asked to pursue the case through Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic channel.

On Sunday (7 May 2017), Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria confirmed that Uzma was at the Indian High Commission. “The Indian High Commission informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that an Indian national … had approached them with [a] request to be repatriated to India.”

The Foreign Office said that it was in contact with the Indian High Commission to resolve the issue.

source: GULF NEWS