Uzma back from Pak, ‘death trap’
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 25
A love story gone horribly wrong reached its conclusion today as Uzma Ahmed, the Indian woman who was allegedly forced to marry a Pakistani man at gunpoint, returned home safely. She was welcomed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who called her “India’s daughter” and also in all graciousness thanked the Pakistan establishment for helping Uzma return home.
“Uzma is here because of the cooperation of Pakistan’s foreign and home ministries. I thank lawyer Shahnawaz Noon, who fought her case like a father,” Swaraj said.
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A visibly emotional Uzma called Pakistan a “death trap”. “It’s easy to enter Pakistan. But it’s nearly impossible to leave. I’ve seen women who go there after arranged marriages. They’re miserable and living in terrible circumstances. There are two, three, even four wives in each house,” Uzma said.
Uzma thanked the government for the help in getting her back. She had sought refuge in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad after escaping from her husband, who she alleged had physically and mentally tortured her. Uzma, in her early 20s and from New Delhi, is believed to have met and fallen in love with Tahir Ali in Malaysia.
Later, when she was visiting Pakistan, Ali forced her to marry him on May 3.
Uzma made the same statement before the Islamabad High Court, which then asked her husband to return her immigration papers, thereby allowing her to return home.
Uzma had requested the Pakistani court to allow her to return to India since her daughter, from her first marriage, suffers from thalassaemia — a blood disorder characterised by abnormal haemoglobin production.
Earlier in the day, Uzma crossed into India through the Wagah border crossing near Amritsar. She was accompanied by Indian mission officials and escorted by Pakistani police personnel.
