NEW DELHI: An Indian woman who said she was forced to marry a Pakistani at gunpoint returned to India on Thursday after a court ordered her release.
Uzma Ahmad was reunited with her family at the Wagah border crossing near Amritsar in northern Punjab state before heading to New Delhi where she called on Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.“I want to thank the foreign ministry and the home ministry of Pakistan. If Uzma is with us today, they have a role too,” Swaraj told reporters in Delhi in a rare display of amity between the foes.Uzma, who is in her early 20s, met Pakistani Tahir Ali in Malaysia, according to Indian media. She told the Islamabad High Court that Ali forced her to marry him at gunpoint on May 3 when she was visiting Pakistan.
She has made headlines in India since making her plea to the court on May 12 to be allowed to return. She had been staying at the Indian mission in Islamabad since making the accusation.The Islamabad court ordered Ali to return the woman’s immigration documents so she could leave. Uzma fought back tears as she recalled Swaraj ringing to assure her everything was being done to bring her home.
