Lately, Indian Tennis Star Sania Mirza and Pakistani Cricketer Shoaib Malik, famous personalities belonging to two major rival nations, have been in news when they announced their marriage date for April 15, 2010. However, they have also gained extra media attention as more and more controversies spring up against Shoaib Malik. Malik and Mirza, who are both Muslim, are due to marry in a rare cross-border union between two of the South Asian rivals’ most popular and controversial sports stars.
Police on Monday seized the passport of Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik as they questioned him in the wake of a complaint lodged against him by the father of a local girl Ayesha Siddiqui. He has been accused of marrying Ayesha, also an Indian woman and then dumping her for being fat.
But 28-year-old Shoaib told police, at the Jubilee Hills residence of 23-year-old tennis star Sania Mirza, that he had been tricked into marriage with Ayesha.
The city police questioned Shoaib Malik for one-and-a-half hours and they also seized his passport. Immigration authorities have been informed about the case filed against Malik and his passport seizure.
During questioning, Shoaib told the police that he had been “cheated” by the Siddiqui family and tricked into marriage, he said. On Sunday, the Pakistani cricketer had claimed that he was emotionally forced into the ‘nikahnama’ (muslim marriage) with the Hyderabad girl but said the marriage was invalid as her family had cheated him and ruled out divorce. He said to this day he has not met the girl whose photographs were sent to him by the Siddiqui family purported to be that of Ayesha. The charges against Shoaib are that of harassment of Ayesha, cheating to marry another girl and criminal intimidation including threats to her to keep quiet.
Ayesha’s father in his complaint, which was lodged hours after Shoaib on Sunday confirmed his marriage with Sania, had accused the Pakistani cricketer of cheating his daughter.
Police Commissioner said there were some legal complications involved in the case and that they will have to examine whether a foreigner committing an offence on a foreign soil comes under the purview of Indian Penal Code (IPC) or not.
This is a hot topic for South Asians, especially belonging to these two rival countries. It will be interesting to see what comes up next, and how this much awaited marriage takes place, if at all, amidst these controversies of accusations from Shoaib’s “current wife” Ayesha Siddiqui and police confiscating his passport.
