Police called to court in gay marriage case

‘Police needs to file an FIR against my brother for marrying a man’.

LAHORE:

An additional sessions judge has issued a notice to the police in a petition that seeks the registration of an FIR against two men who were allegedly married to one another in the UK and have now come to live in Pakistan.

Muhammad Nauman, a resident of Multan Road, filed the petition asking the court to order the police that an FIR be registered against his brother, Hafiz Salman Talib, and his alleged spouse, Muhammad Zaheer Abbas, for marrying one another.

The complainant told the court that his family had sent Talib to UK for education. He said that in April, Talib and Abbas came to Pakistan. The family, he said, spoke with Talib about getting married. According to Nauman, his brother made up excuses but finally told them that he had already married Abbas in the UK.

Talib showed the family a certificate of civil partnership, Nauman said.

The complainant said when the family tried to separate the two, they fled from the house.

The complainant told the court that he went to the police station to register a case against the two men but the police officials refused to entertain it. He said that the police had told him that UK law allowed men to live as a couple. The police, he said, told him that no action could be taken against them in Pakistan. Nauman prayed to the court that the SHO be directed to register an FIR against the men and the police be directed to arrest them.

The judge issued notices to the police for the next date of hearing, May 14.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2011.