Sex change couple in 'illegal marriage'
 

(SF)

Original story here

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Two women, one of who had a sex change operation 16 years ago, face life in prison after they were told their marriage is against the law and Islam by a judge in Pakistan.

The 'groom' Shumail Raj, 31, who was born a woman, and bride Shahzina Tariq, 26, risk charges of 'committing an act of unnatural lust', which carry a heavy penalty.

The bride's father wants to annul the wedding on religious grounds but the couple said they married to protect Tariq from being sold into marriage to pay off her uncle's gambling debts.

Raj first brought the case to the Lahore High Court appealing for protection from harassment by their relatives, but earlier this month the judge ordered the couple's arrest for lying in court after Raj claimed she was a man.

Sajjad Rana, the couple's lawyer, said they never had sexual relations. However, Judge Kahawaja Mohammed Sharif today warned that they could face charges for committing an act of unnatural lust, which carries a penalty of between two years and life in prison, and perjury, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years.

The judge also sent them to jail pending their trial and ordered police to arrest the doctor who performed the sex reassignment surgery along with anyone who had sheltered the couple, including a charity worker.

Raj had told officials that she underwent gender reassignment surgery when she was 15 after she noticed changes in her voice and began to grow facial hair.

The court-appointed medical panel found Raj had no penis and a vagina that was surgically closed. The judge asked Raj, who was wearing trousers, a shirt and showing stubble on her face, whether she was a man or woman.

She replied: 'Yes, I am a woman. I had two operations but still I'm a woman.'

Tariq also admitted that she believed Raj was a woman.

The judge told the court: 'Islam and Pakistani law don't allow such marriages. A marriage of same sex is not allowed in our country.'

The vast majority of Pakistan's 165 million people are Muslims, many of them with conservative social values. Topics such as homosexuality and sex reassignment are largely taboo.

The next hearing is on May 25.