Pakistani moves IHC to meet Indian wife privately

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani man Tahir Ali filed a petition meet his wife Indian citizen Uzma privately in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday.  

Uzma, on May 8, alleged that she was forced to marry Ali at gunpoint, adding that she was unaware that the latter was already married and a father of four children. The claims were denied by Tahir.  

The complicated case took another turn as Uzma’s brother on Tuesday reiterated her earlier claims of travelling to Pakistan in an interview with Geo News.

Read more: Indian woman Uzma coerced into marriage, claims brother

Secretary Interior, Secretary of Foreign Ministry, the Indian High Commission, and Uzma are all party to the application filed in court by Ali.

“Uzma made false allegations against me under pressure,” Ali claimed.

Read more: Wife stopped from leaving Indian HC, claims Pakistani husband

The applicant requested that Uzma should be barred from travelling abroad till a decision on his petition is announced.

Ali also requested the court to schedule the hearing for his petition on Monday.

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 claimsUzma’s claims were challenged by her husband, Tahir

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 any way.” Tahir said that he also knew that Dr Uzma had a daughter from her first marriage.

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

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.

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. 

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 a 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.

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.