Gender test ordered in alleged same-sex marriage

Teacher claims to have become a man to marry her student

RAWALPINDI:

A high court bench on Wednesday ordered to form a medical board to test a person who is known to be a woman but claims to have changed her gender to marry a teenaged girl

A single-member bench of the Rawalpindi registry of the Lahore High Court (LHC), comprising Justice Sadaqat Ali, hearing an alleged same-sex marriage case on Wednesday.

He directed the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) to present a report of the medical examination by July 21.

The MS was authorised to get Aasma Bibi, who now claims to be Ali Akash, tested for her gender from a private laboratory under his supervision if the facility is unavailable in a public hospital.

At the onset of Wednesday’s hearing, the court ordered the couple to take off their face masks. Justice Ali told the couple that they are charged with contracting a same-sex marriage, a very serious allegation.

However, Akash, also known as Aasma, maintained that he had converted into a man now and has the medical reports to prove it.

He also presented the new computerised national identity card (CNIC) he had acquired after undergoing a sex-change operation.

Akash further asserted that the couple had solemnised a free-will marriage and that his wife’s family was completely aware of the matter. He further claimed that his wife’s paternal-aunt also wanted to make him her son-in-law but she later turned away.

When asked by the court, the girl said that she was satisfied and happy with her marriage and that her ‘husband’ was fulfilling all her needs responsibly and that she wanted to live with Akash.

When the petitioner’s lawyers tried to argue, Justice Ali stopped him and said that they must first wait for the medical report.

The court directed the couple to present all related documents in the next hearing.

The Deputy Attorney General (DAG) suggested that the court must order to carry out a medical test of the husband before conducting further proceedings, contending that the medical report will help resolve the case with ease.

Neither the couple nor his lawyer opposed this recommendation and the court ordered to constitute a medical board under the supervision of the DHQ MS. The hearing of the case was adjourned until July 21.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2020.