Uzma and Tahir: A cross-border love story or fraud

ISLAMABAD: The case of Indian woman Uzma’s marriage to Pakistani man Tahir is becoming embroiled in a complicated enmesh as more evidences are coming to the front.

In another twist, it was revealed that Uzma was aware that Tahir was married with four children, which is contradictory to her statements on Monday.

A picture of the WhatsApp conversation between the couple shows that Dr Uzma did know about Tahir’s previous marriage.

A screenshot of the WhatsApp message Uzma sent Tahir.

The case has come to the forefront after her husband claimed that Indian High Commission has stopped her wife from leaving the premises during their visit to apply for visa on Saturday. 

Uzma, who belongs to New Delhi, and Tahir fell in love with each other in Malaysia, after which she travelled to Pakistan on May 1 via the Wagah border, and got married to him on May 3, according to Tahir.

Later, Indian High Commission claimed that Uzma has been staying there out of her own will.

Was married at gunpoint: Uzma

Uzma, on Monday, alleged that she was forced to marry Pakistan citizen Tahir Ali at gunpoint. She further remarked that she was unaware that Tahir was married and was the father of four children while speaking to the media. 

She also said that she was given sleeping pills and forcefully brought to Pakistan. “I was mentally, physically and sexually tortured,” she remarked, adding that she has been staying at the IHC of her own accord.

Uzma also claimed that her immigration documents were snatched and she was harassed and tortured regularly while living with her Pakistani husband.

She filed a case under the Pakistan Penal Code section 506, and recorded her statement in front of the magistrate on Monday, stating she did not want to leave the Indian High Commission in Islamabad till she could safely travel back to India.

According to the Pakistan High Commission, Uzma's immigration documents state that she travelled to Pakistan on a visit visa.

The Pakistani authorities declared that the Indian citizen did not disclose her plans to marry in Pakistan when she applied for the visa and instead expressed her intent to visit her relatives in Pakistan. 

Tahir challenges Uzma’s claims

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Uzma’s claims were challenged by her husband, Tahir Ali, while speaking to the media.

He said that Uzma knew that he has been married before and have four children from his first wife, further adding that if Uzma doesn’t want to live with him then that’s her right which she can rightly exercise.  

He also remarked that he has all the proofs to show that he is speaking the truth. “I have a proof of all my claims and witnesses.”

He also rejected the claims that he had assaulted her. He said “you can get her medical tests done to see if I have harmed or tortured her in anyway.”
Tahir said that he also knew that Dr Uzma had a daughter from her first marriage.

Speaking about how the two met, he told Geo News that they met for the first time in Malaysia, where he was working as a taxi driver.

“We stayed friends for eight to nine months,” he said, adding that later Uzma expressed her desire to marry him.

Uzma had claimed that I gave her sleeping pills but it is all a lie, he claimed.

After coming to Pakistan via Wagah Border, we had even stopped for lunch at Swabi. We waited for two days before our marriage. During this time, she knew about my first marriage and children.

Speaking about why Uzma made such allegations, Tahir said that Uzma is possibly being forced by the embassy to make such statements.

He also expressed desire to meet his wife one more time and clear out the misunderstandings between them.

Read more: Tahir rejects coercion claims, says Indian wife knew about his first marriage

Nikkah video surfaces

Earlier, a video of the nikkah ceremony of the couple had emerged which also contradicted the statements of Dr Uzma that she was forced into marriage at gunpoint.

In the video, Tahir can be seen sitting with Uzma, who is donning a white niqab, with a moulvi and three witnesses for their nikkah in a local court in Daggar tehsil of District Buner. No signs of intimidation or violence are present in the video, which contradicts Uzma’s earlier statement that she was forced into marriage at gunpoint.

Over the matter, the moulvi, identified as Humayun Khan, who solemnised the couple’s marriage, spoke to Geo News.

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Reiterating what Tahir had said before, Humayun explained that Dr Uzma came to Buner on May 1. “I asked her if she is willing for the marriage,” he said, adding she told him that she is getting married of her own accord.

“I also have video of the nikkah and other proofs,” he remarked.

Father’s name controversy

Another twist in the tale emerged when Uzma's documents disclosed that her father's name as stated on her visa form, marriage contract, and an affidavit was different from the name submitted to the magistrate.

While her documents declared the woman as the daughter of one Muhammad Naushad, while she was listed as Sagheer Ahmed's daughter in the form submitted to the magistrate.