Pakistan is 'well of death,' I want to thank Sushma Swaraj and PM Modi, because of them I am alive: Uzma Ahmed

Uzma Ahmed, the Indian woman who was allegedly forced to marry a Pakistani man at gunpoint during her visit there, returned to India on Thursday after getting nod from Islamabad High Court .

After arriving in India, she called Pakistan a “well of death” while narrating her ordeal during a joint press conference with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.  

She said, “It’s easy to enter Pakistan but nearly impossible to leave that place.”

“Pakistan is a ‘maut ka kuan’ (well of death). I’ve seen women who go there after arranged marriages. They’re miserable and living in terrible condition. There are two, three, even four wives in every house,” she said.

Uzma said she wanted to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to personally thank him for the government’s efforts to facilitate her return.

She said ‘Buner’, the area where Tahir, the Pakistani man who married her at gunpoint, took her after giving her sleeping pills, was like a “Taliban-controlled” region.

Uzma said had she stayed there for a few more days she would have been dead. She broke down several times while recalling the horror in front of the national media.

She profusely thanked Swaraj, Indian mission officials and other staffers for making her comfortable and ensuring her return.

Uzma, who is in her early 20s, hails from New Delhi. She was allowed by the Islamabad High Court yesterday to return to India following a plea she filed with the court seeking its direction after her husband Tahir Ali “seized” her immigration papers and refused to return the document.

She crossed into India through the Wagah Border crossing near Amritsar. She was accompanied by Indian mission officials and escorted by Pakistani police personnel.    

Excerpts from Uzma Ahmed's press conference after returning from Pakistan

# Will advise people not to visit Pakistan.

# I am a proud of being a daughter of India. There is no other place in the world like India.  

# Big day for me to safely return my country.

# Went to Pakistan to visit but Tahir drugged me there and kidnapped.

# Was tortured and threatened by Tahir to kill my daughter in Delhi.

# There are many other girls from not just India but other countries who are being harrased.

# It's easy to go to Pak, but tough to return. Pakistan is a 'well of death'. Even those who go there after arrange marriage are crying.

# Want to thank Sushma ma'am. high commission officials. I am an orphan, first time, I realised my life is so valuable.

# I want to thank Sushma Swaraj & family. Because of her, I am alive. I was trapped in Pakistan.

# I think I was not alone in Buner; there are many women like me who are stuck there. I would like to save them.

Earlier on the day, Sushma Swaraj met family of Uzma, who said she was forced to marry a Pakistani man at gunpoint. She returned to India on Thursday.

(With Inputs from PTI)

#WATCH EAM Sushma Swaraj addresses a joint press conference with Uzma, who returned from Pakistan, earlier today https://t.co/2OMnYnltNe

— ANI (@ANI_news) May 25, 2017