Forcibly married to Pak man, says Indian woman

An Indian woman, who says she was forcibly married to a Pakistani man at gun point, said on Monday she would not leave the Indian high commission in Islamabad till she is repatriated with “full security”.

The woman, identified as Uzma, approached the judicial magistrate’s court with an application that stated she wants to “go back to my homeland” of her own will. “I would like to go back to my home with full security,” the application said. The court recorded Uzma’s statement and set July 11 as the next date for hearing the case.

Uzma, who hails from New Delhi, met and became friendly with Tahir Khan, a resident of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, in Malaysia, her application said. She got in touch with Khan again after returning to India.

The application said Khan “forced” her to get a Pakistani visa to visit him. When she crossed the Wagah land border, Khan picked up Uzma in a car and, after travelling a short distance, gave her a sleeping pill, she told reporters outside the court.

She awoke at 10pm to find herself in Khan’s home in a “strange village with strange people”. Khan’s family did not speak Hindi. “That night, Tahir sexually assaulted and tortured me and threatened to kill me…Next day, they brought me to a dirty and strange house, they took my signature on Nika Nama (marriage contract) at gun point,” the application said.

Uzma said she found out later that Khan already had a wife and four children. She added she was beaten and tortured and that she managed to get away from Khan when she came to the Indian mission in Islamabad to receive some money sent by her brother in Delhi. “I do not want to go outside the High Commission until I return to my home in Delhi,” she said in her application.

Uzma told the media: “I am in the High Commission of my own will. No one is forcing me...I will not come out of here, that’s it.”

Khan had claimed the Indian mission had detained Uzma when she went there to apply for his visa. However, this was rejected by Indian officials. In New Delhi, the external affairs ministry spokesperson said: “The High Commission of India has provided her necessary consular and legal assistance. It is coordinating with the Pakistan Foreign Office for the safe return of the lady to India...Her brother met the external affairs minister and requested government help to rescue his sister at the earliest.”

Two personnel of the 165 Battalion Territorial Army were killed and two others sustained injuries in a bomb attack at Lokchao in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district bordering Myanmar on Monday.

The incident took place when two improvised explosive devices exploded simultaneously as an army truck, which was carrying a road opening party of the Territorial Army, was returning to its Lokchao post at around 5.30am, sources said. While Arjun Baral was killed on the spot, Varesho Hungyo succumbed to his injuries later. The injured are being treated at an army hospital in Manipur.