Teenage girl who contracted free-will marriage after elopement files for divorce

Nimra Kazmi’s disappearance and reemergence as a happily married woman had hit headlines last year

KARACHI:

A teenage girl who had eloped to marry a young man of her choice in Dera Ghazi Khan district of Punjab against the wishes of her family has filed for divorce after realising that her marriage would not last.

Nimra Kazmi, daughter of Nargis and Muhammad Nadeem, who live near RCD Ground in the Saudabad area of Malir, had mysteriously "disappeared" from her house on April 20, 2022. Later, it turned out that she had contracted a free-will marriage with Najeeb Shahrukh in DG Khan.

Nimra, who has already returned to her parent's home in Karachi, filed for khula (divorce) before the District and Sessions Judge for East district on Friday. In her petition, she submitted that she had married Najeeb Shahrukh, a resident of Taunsa Sharif in D G Khan, on April 18, 2022. At the time of nikkah, the bridegroom was supposed to pay a dower of Rs5,000 immediately, which he never did.

She further stated that soon after their marriage Shahrukh started behaving inappropriately with her, often abusing her family members. "Shahrukh and his family were engaged in unethical behavior, and forced her to have [immoral] relationships with strangers," Nimra said. She used to suffer pointless torture at the hands of Shahrukh.

She returned to her parent's home on April 5 this year after being fed up with her husband and in-laws. "Now, I want to live with my parents," she concluded.

As per the DPO DG Khan, Nimra Kazmi had contracted a free-will marriage with Najeeb Shahrukh in April 2022. In her statement in the court, Nimra said that she was not abducted and left her parents' home of her own choosing. "My name is Nimra Kazmi... I came here on [April] 17 and entered into marriage on [April] 18 2022... I was not kidnapped and came here out of my free-will and I am very happy," the teenage girl said in the video.

At the time, Nimra's mother had registered an abduction complaint with police against Shahrukh, who had also sent a marriage proposal. "I opposed giving her hand in marriage to Shahrukh because her education was incomplete. I told Nimra, complete your education first, then we will get you married," she recalled.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2023.