Pakistan’s Alleged Gay Marriage
Two men have supposedly got married in the socially conservative Muslim country of Pakistan.
According to a local Urdu-language newspaper, Liaquat Ali, a 42-year-old Afghan refugee married a 16 year old tribesman in the Khyber region of the country. The newspaper also claimed that Ali paid the boy’s parents 40,000 rupees (£380) for their permission.
The AFP news agency confirmed the story with Malik Waris Khan a local politician who said, “the marriage was held amid usual pomp and show associated with a tribal wedding. I checked the report with people in Tirah Valley and they confirmed it.”
It has also been reported that the pair have been told to leave the area or be killed for breaking religious and ethics.
Gay sex and marriage are both illegal in Pakistan and can result in life imprisonment or a public torture.
A gay couple caught having sex were flogged in public in the Khyber region during May of this year.