Man accused of marrying stepdaughter goes public

Shah says his wife is not the real daughter of his ex, willing to have DNA test

HARIPUR: A man facing charges of marrying stepdaughter came out in public after months of hiding from the community and before the expiry of his bail before arrest.

In November, Sherbano, a resident of Haripur, had filed an application in the court stating that Waris Ali Shah, who had married and stayed with her for nine months, had eloped and registered a nikah with her daughter.

Acting on the application, the court ordered registering a case against Shah as well as witnesses and registrar of his nikah. Sira-e-Saleh police, acting on court orders, arrested and presented all the accused before the court within days, except Shah, who managed to get bail before arrest.

On Friday, Syed Waris Ali Shah and wife Syeda Sameera held a press conference at the Haripur Press Club where they denied all allegations relating to the case involving illegal marriage.

Regarding marrying a stepdaughter, they said that Sameera was not the real daughter of Sher Bano. “I was adopted by Bano, so there is no issue of Shah marrying me,” the young woman said.

She said she was willing to undergo a DNA test to prove that Bano was not her real mother.

They also claimed that Sameera ran away with Shah to escape domestic abuse at the hands of Bano.

Shah narrating how he met Bano said he had taken her in nikah to giver her social and financial security and had not consummated the marriage.

Denying any conjugal relations with his ex-wife, Shah said Bano was blackmailing him.

“Bano is asking for a million rupees, otherwise, she says, she would implicate me in case after case,” he said.

“I am being vicitimised in a false propaganda. An FIR was registered against me. I have divorced her in a jirga held at Haripur’s DPO office in the presence of my parents, DSP Samina Bukhari and Dispute Resoloution Committee in-charge Tehseenul Haq.

Shah said that his present wife Sameera had fled home due to her abusive mother.

“We have married out of our own free will; allegations levelled by my ex-wife are baseless,” Shah said.

Bano has been conspiring to blackmail and defame me. She has demanded Rs1 million from me, though I have divorced her.

“Sameera and I have married with consent. We are spending a happy life. All allegations against me are baseless and I will defend them in the court tomorrow. I have all evidence in writing,” Shah said.

Speaking at the conference, Shah’s wife, Sameera said that Sher Bano was a cruel step mother. “She wanted to force me into prostitution. She used to beat me up which forced me to escape from her home,” Sameera said, “I no longer wish to stay with her. I have also given this statement to the court. A year ago, I reported my stepmother’s torture to a police station. The police just called my stepmother and handed me over to her,” the woman said.

Shah claimed to have more than 10 witnesses to prove that Sameera was adopted rather than born to Bano.  “We are ready to have DNA test for it as well,” he said, adding that with such test will reveal the truth about Bano and her adopted daughter.

Truth will unfold in the court, they said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2018.