Trans Man and Wife Arrested in Pakistan

There’s some trans drama over in Pakistan, where police arrested a couple after a court found out the husband used to be a woman. 31-year old Shumail Raj underwent a sex-change surgery 16 years ago and lived life as a man.

Though he has no penis – and his vagina has been sealed shut – Raj married a 26-year old woman named Shahzina Tariq, who claims her family planned to sell her to settle her uncle’s gambling debts. Looking for protection, Tariq asked Raj for his hand. She explains, “I knew that Shumail was not a male. She had some problem due to the operations, but I begged her for protection.”

Hesitant at first, Raj finally agreed. Speaking from Faisalabad’s police station, Raj told International Herald Tribune:

I decided to help her out when she came to me with the problem. She told me that one of her uncles wants to sell her to pay off a debt. I had told Shahzina that I have had two operations and I am not a male. But she said that it was not a problem for her.

It was, however, a problem for Tariq’s family, who have taken the couple to court to annul the marriage.

Police have yet to press any formal charges and the matter’s still under investigation.