Married at gunpoint, she gets nod to return to India

The Islamabad High Court has allowed an Indian woman, who has been staying at the Indian mission  after accusing a Pakistani man of marrying her at gunpoint, to return home and ordered the police to escort her to the Wagah border.

Uzma, who is in her early 20s, hails 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 into marrying him in Pakistan on May 3. 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. Ali had petitioned the court, requesting that he be allowed to meet his wife. A single Bench of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard both the petitions. After hearing their arguments, he allowed Uzma to return to India. The court also returned her the immigration papers which she had said were taken away by Ali, who had submitted the documents  after being told by the court to do so. It’s not yet clear when she would leave for India. Ali said the high court allowed “his wife” to go back. “She has been allowed to return and I am unhappy because my point of view was not heard.”

The judge asked Uzma if she wanted to meet Ali in his chamber, but she refused. “I had asked to meet her for two minutes but I was not allowed,” Ali added. Some reports said Uzma once 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 Indian High Commission, alleging she was forced to marry him at gunpoint.