ISLAMABAD: The case of a ‘controversial’ marriage between an Indian woman and a Pakistani man reached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday as the husband requested the court to stop his wife from returning to India.

Tahir Khan, a resident of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also requested the court to arrange his meeting with his wife Uzma at a neutral place, saying the recent application filed by her was a result of pressure from her family as well as officials of the Indian High Commission.

The petitioner alleged that his wife had illegally and unlawfully been detained at the Indian High Commission and his right to meet her had been violated.

The petition cited the secretaries interior and foreign affairs, the Indian High Commissioner and Uzma as the respondents. Mr Khan worked as a taxi driver in Malaysia. In mid-2016, he met Uzma and later their relationship developed into an agreement that they would marry. Ms Uzma asked the petitioner to come to India which the latter refused and instead invited her to Pakistan to get married. However, the Malaysian police on Nov 10 last year detained Mr Khan over suspicions of forged documents. After his release from jail on Dec 23, he contacted Uzma.

Tahir Khan says his wife has been illegally detained by Indian High Commission

According to the petition, she willingly travelled to Pakistan on a valid visa issued by the Pakistan High Commission in India. On May 1, she arrived at the Wagah border from where the petitioner took her to his hometown of Buner.

After a day in Buner, Ms Uzma was taken to the district courts at Daggar where their Nikkah was performed by Hamayun Khan. All the process took place with the consent and willingness of Ms Uzma, the petitioner said.

Later, he added, Ms Uzma’s brother Wasim telephoned her and also talked to the petitioner. He said Uzma’s brother asked the petitioner to approach the Indian High Commission for obtaining a visa.

On May 5, the petitioner along with Ms Uzma and his maternal uncle reached Islamabad to apply for an Indian visa.

Initially, the petitioner and others were asked to wait. Later, officials called Ms Uzma inside the high commission. Since then, the petitioner said, he had not seen her.

The petitioner said officials in the Indian High Commission took his wife to the local court where she filed a complaint and recorded her statement under duress and pressure from her brother.

The petitioner said he was the husband to Uzma and under the law can meet her in a free atmosphere. “Barring me to meet her is illegal and without lawful authority. The complaint and statement of Uzma is a result of pressure exerted by her brother who is an influential person.”

It may be noted that in her visa application form Ms Uzma had mentioned her purpose of visit to Pakistan as ‘see ailing aunt etc’.

On May 8, the Indian woman filed a private complaint with the court of judicial magistrate (west) in Islamabad, stating that during her two-month stay in Malaysia she met Mr Khan and developed a relationship with him. She said Mr Khan used to speak to her in English and she got the impression that he had a good family background.

“He was nice and soft spoken. After I came back to India, he forced me to come to Pakistan to meet his family. He also sent a sponsor letter for visa. After I arrived at the Wagah border, Tahir picked me and after a short travel gave me a medicine due to which I fell unconscious. The next day when I woke up I found myself in a strange village among strange people.”

She alleged that Mr Khan also sexually assaulted and tortured her. She said she was made to sign the Nikkahnama at gunpoint. Later she came to know that Mr Khan was already married with four children. The Indian woman also alleged that Mr Khan was in the possession of money that her brother had sent to her from Dehli.

“If I stay at his village, only my dead body will come back. I like to return to my country with my own free will,” she said in the complaint.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2017