A Pakistani judge jailed a married couple after ruling that the husband was also a woman despite earlier sex-change surgery.
LAHORE: A Pakistani judge jailed a married couple after ruling that the husband was also a woman despite earlier sex-change surgery.
The judge at Lahore High Court in eastern Pakistan ruled that the pair had lied about the husband's gender and that operations to make the husband a full man were not carried out properly.
Judge Khwaja Mohammad Sharif said he would announce the length of the sentences on Friday and that he was further considering whether to try the pair for homosexuality.
"It was an illegal and un-Islamic marriage which is not sustainable under the law," the judge said.
The husband, Shamile Raj, 31, married his cousin Shehzina Tariq in September last year in what they said was a bid to avoid her being sold off to pay the debts of her hard-gambling uncle.
But Tariq's father filed a court application asking for the marriage to be dissolved after he suspected that Raj was not a man and that it was against Islam for two women to marry.
Bearded, short-haired Raj appeared in court on Tuesday and admitted giving a false statement.
A medical examination ordered by the High Court showed that doctors had earlier removed Raj's breasts and uterus.
"I underwent surgery to change my sex. I was still in the process of getting my sex changed and was planning to go abroad to have a complete surgery," Raj said.
Raj said he now feared for his life.
Tariq said she knew about Raj's gender and got married because her father wanted to marry her off to a man without her consent.
"I married Shamile Raj knowing each and every thing about her," she said as police escorted her to jail.
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