Lahore: The hearing of a petition over a "love marriage" in a Pakistani court took an unusual turn when the bride's family claimed that the groom was a woman and requested a medical examination to substantiate its claim.
The incident occurred on Tuesday during the hearing of the case in the Lahore High Court.
The claim made by the bride's family surprised all persons present in the courtroom.
Ayesha and Shahzad Butt of Gujrat district, 100 km from Lahore, had filed a petition seeking the cancellation of a case registered by Ayesha's family against Shahzad on charges of kidnapping her.
Through her counsel, Ayesha told the court that she contracted marriage with Shahzad of her own free will.
She said no one had kidnapped her though her family filed a "fake" case against her husband.
"I want to go with my husband," Ayesha told the judge. During the course of the hearing, Ayesha's uncle Arif said Shahzad was in fact the fictitious name of a woman, Sonia Butt.
Presenting the birth and school-leaving certificate of Sonia, Arif said: "Sonia is a member of a criminal gang, who traps girls in the guise of a man and later forces them into prostitution."
Arif requested the court to order a medical examination of Shahzad so that his claim could be substantiated.
Justice Manzoor A Malik said the petition pertained to the case registered by police and the court could not issue any directions that were irrelevant to the petition.
The judge directed the police to cancel the FIR in the light of Ayesha's statement and asked her family to approach a family court to establish their claim.
The judge further directed the High Court's security personnel to escort the couple out of the court complex.
Talking to reporters, Shahzad said: "I am a man and not a woman and don't need to prove this."
Ayesha said she did not want to live with her parents as she did not like them.
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