News Desk |
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested two women – a British national and her niece – from the Islamabad International Airport on charges of obtaining asylum in the United Kingdom after posing themselves as a ‘lesbian couple’.
The FIA held the British woman, hailing originally from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and her Pakistani niece for misrepresenting facts on their travel documents. They were booked and shifted to FIA’s Human Trafficking Cell for further investigation.
As per the media reports, it is said that Pakistani authorities will contact British officials, who had been misguided into giving the women asylum.
Officials said that the women were sent behind the bars as they obtained a UK visa after seeking asylum by posing themselves as a same-sex couple.
Media reports said that the women arrived at Islamabad International Airport’s immigration counter as the staff was being briefed about Pakistan International Airline’s flight No.791 leaving for Birmingham, UK.
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While checking the travelling documents, the immigration officer was surprised to see that the women had declared themselves a married couple despite the fact that same-sex marriages are not allowed under Pakistani law.
A Pakistani female lesbian couple was held at New Islamabad International Airport by FIA Immigration and Passport Cell while trying to fly to UK @TomDrewUK @pkBritish through a flight. The duo identified as Nasim Begum&Nabila confessed they had contracted marriage with each other
— Israr Ahmed Rajpoot (@ia_rajpoot) July 24, 2019
Subsequently, the officer informed the FIA personnel and when they probed the ‘lesbian couple’, the women also produced a ‘forged’ marriage certificate. The FIA officials then arrested the women and handed them over to the Human Trafficking Cell.
The FIA held the British woman, hailing originally from AJK, and her Pakistani niece for misrepresenting facts on their travel documents.
Following the arrest, the British woman told FIA officers that a lawyer had guaranteed a visa for her niece if they pose as a lesbian couple and apply for asylum, citing a threat to their lives.
As per the media reports, it is said that Pakistani authorities will contact British officials, who had been misguided into giving the women asylum.
Read more: India SC legalizes gay sex amidst the rise of Hindutva
Pakistani women marry in Britain’s first Muslim lesbian partnership
In May 2013, the Independent had reported that two former students from Pakistan had become the first Muslim lesbian couple to marry in a civil ceremony in Britain.
The FIA officials then arrested the women and handed them over to the Human Trafficking Cell.
Rehana Kausar, 34, and Sobia Kamar, 29, had taken their vows at a registry office in Leeds before immediately applying for political asylum, it was claimed.
Relatives of the couple said the women, who studied in Birmingham, had received death threats both in the UK and from opponents in Pakistan, where homosexual relations are illegal.
During the ceremony, the couple had reportedly told the registrar that they had met three years ago while studying business and health care management at Birmingham, having traveled to the country on student visas, and had been living together in South Yorkshire for about a year.