by Qaiser Shirazi

RAWALPINDI:

A high court bench on Wednesday ordered to form a medical board to test a person who claims to have changed gender to marry. A single-member bench of the Rawalpindi registry of the Lahore High Court (LHC), comprising Justice Sadaqat Ali, hearing an alleged same-sex marriage case on Wednesday.

He directed the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) to present a report of the medical examination by July 21. The MS was authorised to get Aasma Bibi, who now claims to be Ali Akash, tested for his gender from a private laboratory under his supervision if the facility is unavailable in a public hospital.

At the onset of Wednesday’s hearing, the court ordered the couple to take off their face masks. Justice Ali told the couple that they are charged with contracting a same-sex marriage, a very serious allegation. However, Akash, maintained that he had converted into a man now and has the medical reports to prove it.

He also presented the new computerised national identity card (CNIC) he had acquired after undergoing a sex-change operation. Akash further asserted that the couple had solemnised a free-will marriage and that his wife’s family was completely aware of the matter. He further claimed that his wife’s paternal-aunt also wanted to make him her son-in-law but she later turned away. Read more via Express Tribune