Representational imageIslamabad: A 20-year-old Indian woman, who approached the Indian High Commission here with a request to repatriate her, Monday alleged that she was forced to marry a Pakistani citizen on gunpoint, marking a new turn in the case.
Uzma filed a plea with an Islamabad court against her husband Tahir Ali alleging that she was being harassed and intimidated by him. Her statement was recorded before a magistrate.
Alleging that she was forced to marry Ali on gunpoint, she said: "My immigration documents were snatched", Geo News reported.
Uzma said she does not want to leave the Indian High Commission premises till she could safely travel back to India.
According to reports, Uzma's husband met her in the High Commission this morning but he was not present in the court.
The Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi said that the immigration documents state that Uzma obtained the visa under the visit category.
Pakistani authorities have said that the Indian citizen did not share her plans to marry in Pakistan when she applied for the visa and expressed her intent to visit her relatives in Pakistan.
Uzma last week approached the Indian High Commission here with a request to repatriate her to India. But her husband, Ali, alleged that his wife had been detained by the mission.
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria Sunday said in a statement that "the Indian High Commission informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that an Indian national, Ms Uzma, 20, had approached them with the request to be repatriated to India."
Zakaria said that according to the Indian High Commission, she claimed to have married Ali and alleged that she later came to know that he was already married and has four children.
Uzma and Ali reportedly met in Malaysia and fell in love after which she travelled to Pakistan on May 1 via the Wagah border. Their 'nikah' was solemnized on May 3.
But the situation changed when they visited the Indian High Commission Friday. Uzma went inside the building of the mission and did not return, according to her husband.
Ali has filed a case with the local police that she was detained against her will.
Coordinating with Pak for safe return of Uzma: MEA
India is coordinating with the Pakistan Foreign Office for the safe return of the woman who has alleged that she was sedated, tortured and forced to sign Nikah Nama at gunpoint in Pakistan, the external affairs ministry said on Monday.
The woman's brother met the external affairs minister and sought the government's help in rescuing his sister at the earliest, the ministry's spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.
He also noted that the young Indian woman, who had sought shelter in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad on May 5, recorded her statement in the Court of Judicial Magistrate in Islamabad, as per local legal requirement.
"In her statement, she said that she was sedated, assaulted, tortured mentally and physically in Pakistan by a Pakistani man who had met her in Malaysia, invited her to visit his family in Pakistan and provided the requisite sponsorship letter to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi for her visa.
"She also stated that the same man also made her sign Nikah Nama at gunpoint," the spokesperson said.
The woman stated that she had taken a shelter at the Indian High Commission of her own accord and would stay there till she is sent back to India.
"The High Commission has provided her necessary consular and legal assistance. It is coordinating with Pakistan Foreign Office for the safe return of the lady to India and is also in touch with her family in India on the matter. Her brother met the external affairs minister and requested the government's help to rescue his sister at the earliest," he added.
