PESHAWAR, June 21: A local family court on Friday summoned a government hospital’s gynaecologist over a runaway Afghan woman’s marriage controversy.

Dr Iqbal Begum of Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar recently performed a caesarean operation on Maryam, who gave birth to a girl.

The woman had married a local man last year. Afterwards, an Afghan man took her to the court, claiming she’s already married to him.

Judge Kiran Shaukat accepted a request of the woman for summoning the gynaecologist as defendant witness in the suit filed by her alleged husband, Abdur Rehman and adjourned hearing until June 24.

Ms Maryam and her husband, Hewad, appeared before the court amid tight security.

On the order of the Peshawar High Court chief justice, the two have been provided accommodation at a government shelter home for women.

Earlier, in Jan this year, the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) test proved that the woman could be biological mother of two minor girls, Husna, 4, and Sana, 2, contrary to her denial of marrying their father, Abdur Rehman.

Both the parties have been in litigation since July last year when Abbottabad police arrested the couple after their marriage.

Ijaz Khan Sabi, lawyer for Abdur Rehman, said the witness, who the woman had been requesting to summon, had got nothing to do with the case as the court was only to decide whether the woman was earlier married to the plaintiff.

He said the plaintiff had produced several witnesses and concluded his evidence, but the defendant had so far not produced even a single witness to negate the claims of the plaintiff.

Naeem Khan and Matiullah, lawyers for the couple, said the gynaecologist was an important witness as she would be in a better position to explain whether the woman had given birth to the baby for the first time.

The runaway couple was arrested by Abbottabad police after complaint was lodged by Mohammad Ishaq, brother of Abdur Rehman.

However, they were freed after Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan took notice of the arrest.

The two are currently kept at a government shelter for women.

While escaping from Afghanistan, they had also taken along with them the two minor girls, who Maryam claimed was daughters of her deceased sister.