Woman returns after Pakistan ordeal
Uzma, who was forced to marry at gunpoint in neighbouring country, came back via Wagah
Aday after the Islamabad High Court (HC) allowed her deportation, an Indian woman who said she was forced by a Pakistani man to marry him at gunpoint returned to India yesterday.
Uzma Ahmad, who sought refuge at the Indian High Commission in Pakistan capital Islamabad on May 5, came back via the Wagah Border. Uzma was escorted by Pakistani security personnel till the Wagah Border crossing where Indian officials debriefed her for a while. She is likely to be brought to her native place Delhi by today.
Welcoming Uzma, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, tweeted, “welcome home India’s daughter. I am sorry for all that you have gone through.”
Uzma’s brother Wasim Ahmad was jubilant at her return to India.
“On Wednesday, Islamabad High Court allowed my sister Uzma to return home and ordered the Pakistan police to escort her to the Wagah Border. I am very happy to hear that Uzma is back, but don’t know when she will be back in Delhi, since her flight is delayed,” Uzma’s brother Wasim Ahmad told media.
He thanked the Indian government in securing Uzma’s release from her husband’s captivity. “Sushma Swarajji always kept us updated on Uzma, made me speak to her once, Indian government thoroughly helped us, want to thank the External Affairs Ministry,” Ahmad added.
Uzma, 25, went to a remote district in Pakistan’s KhyberPakhtunkhwa province on May 1. She alleged in court that she met Tahir Ali in Malaysia who later forced her to marry him in Pakistan on May 3.
Taking refuge
On May 5, she went to Islamabad and took refuge in the Indian High Commission, alleging she was forced to marry him at gunpoint. In her petition in the court dated May 12, Uzma sought to be allowed to return home urgently as her daughter from her first marriage in India suffered from Thalassemia.
She alleged in her petition that she was “terribly beaten, tortured physically and mentally and forced to sign the nikahnama (marriage deed) by Tahir Ali.”