Runaway Afghan couple: More witnesses record statements

PESHAWAR: More family members of Maryam, the Afghan woman who eloped and allegedly contracted a second marriage, recorded their statements in favour of her supposed first husband, Abdul Rehman. Family Court Judge Kiran Shaukat recorded statements of Maryam’s mother, brother and maliks from Afghanistan on Saturday. All witnesses confirmed the first marriage and said the couple had two daughters together, Husna and Saba. The court ordered that all members of the alleged first family, Maryam, Rehman, Saba and Husna, be taken to Khyber Medical College to give blood samples that would then be sent to Islamabad for a DNA test. The tests were ordered following Rehman’s request to prove that Maryam was the mother of the children. Maryam, however, has said that she will not accept DNA test results conducted in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2012.