Stopped by the police?

The policeman must have across many situations where he let go of kidnappers, rapists or murderers just for money.

Khalid and I got married a few months ago, and recently went on a trip to Lahore and Islamabad.

We had to take the Daewoo bus from Lahore to Rawalpindi, and then a cab to our guest house. The bus reached Pindi around 11pm and we hurried into the taxi since it was extremely cold and raining cats and dogs.

As our taxi approached the Islamabad check point, we were directed to pull over by the police. A tall, uniformed policeman knocked on our window and started asking the typical questions, ‘Where are you coming from? Why are you here?’

After a few minutes, he asked us to show our identification cards. I had my passport, but my husband had his Nicop (national identity card for overseas Pakistani), but that wasn’t enough. He asked us for our nikahnama. The cop started talking to us rudely and told us that he can arrest us.

“He only wants money,” said the cab driver. I rolled my eyes and thought how nice to see a dedicated cop. Just then, the cop became angry. “Girls are kidnapped and brought here in the open fields; they are found dead and abused in this area,” said the police officer. “How can I let you go without any proof?”

At this point, Khalid was furious and he stepped out of the cab to ask the policeman what the real problem was and if there was someone we could speak to for this matter.

Meanwhile, I remembered we had some wedding pictures in the laptop so I called out to Khalid and told him to show them our wedding photos. Upon hearing this, the policeman took a 180 degree turn in his attitude.

“Chalain mubarak ho aapko, lekin shadi ki koyee sweet toh dein”, (Okay congratulations to you two! But give me a present too) he said with a smile.

My husband couldn’t believe what he was hearing, the policeman asked for Rs500.

Since the incident, I have been wondering how many situations he must have come across where he let go of kidnappers, rapists or murderers — all just for money?

Hypothetically speaking, if Khalid was someone who had kidnapped me, the cop would have allowed us to pass through for Rs500?

Read more by Mahrukh here or follow her on Twitter@Mahrukh_Abbasi