LAHORE, May 23: An NGO and the counsel for the same-sex marriage partners have demanded that the ‘couple’ should be allowed to live according to their wish. The Lahore High Court had sent Shumail Raj, 31, and Shahzina Tariq, 26, to Lahore and Faisalabad jails, respectively, on Tuesday declaring that same-sex marriage is not allowed in Islam and no law permits it.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Asar Resource Centre’s Nighat Saeed Khan accompanied by Advocate Rana Sajjad Husain said society and law should give people a freedom to live according to their wished if they did not harm anybody.

Ms Khan said the couple would be answerable to God if they had committed anything against Islam.

Sajjad Husain said he tried to see his clients in jails, but the authorities denied him an access. He also alleged that he had been receiving threatening calls since he took up the case.