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Was forced into phone ‘nikah’: Shoaib
‘I was cheated….Sania knows everything’; wedding on April 15 in Hyderabad
Suresh Dharur
Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, April 4
Breaking his silence over the controversy surrounding his alleged first marriage, Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik today said he was cheated and forced into a telephonic ‘nikah’ with Hyderabadi girl Ayesha Siddiqui eight years ago.

Projecting himself as a victim of impersonation, the former Pakistani captain said he had signed the ‘nikahnama’ (marriage document) in 2002 presuming that he was marrying the girl whose photographs were sent to him.

“The truth is that I have, to this day, not met the girl in the photograph. Ayesha Siddiqui was the girl who introduced herself as Maha Apa (or elder sister) of Ayesha. When I realised the fraud, it was the worst moment of my life. No one enjoys being cheated. I have been made a fool,” he said in a statement to the media here.

Asserting that ‘nikah’ over phone was not valid as per Islamic law, he said the question of divorce did not arise. Ayesha had earlier accused him of cheating her and demanded divorce. Addressing the media at the residence of his bride to-be and tennis star Sania Mirza, a nervous-looking Shoaib said their marriage would be held in Hyderabad on April 15 as originally planned.

He also made it clear that Sania would continue to play for India after marriage. “Sania knows the truth and has been supporting me through the ordeal. We are happy and the wedding arrangements are on,” he said.

The former Pakistani captain flew into the city on Friday to clear the air following Ayesha Siddiqui’s family slapping a legal notice on him for cheating, defamation and harassment and releasing copies of ‘nikahnama’ as a proof.

Shoaib has been staying at Sania’s house in the upmarket Jubilee Hills for the last two days, discussing marriage arrangements with her family. There are also reports that some of the influential friends of the Mirzas, including former cricketer V Chamundeswarnath, have been trying to mediate with the Siddiquis to sort out the matters amicably.

The fairytale, cross-border romance of the two sporting icons has attracted intense media attention. A battery of journalists from local and national newspapers and TV channels have been camping near Sania’s house, eager to get the sound bites from key players of the unfolding drama.

Giving a detailed account of his tryst with Ayesha and explaining how he was duped, Shoaib, in a two-page statement, claimed that she had starting making phone calls to him in 2001 claiming to be his fan. Later, she kept sending photographs of some other girl and constantly evaded meeting him.

“Every time I brought up the topic of meeting, she would send me a bunch of photographs. When I came to Hyderabad in 2002 to meet Ayesha, I was told that she had left for Saudi Arabia on some urgent work. She told me over phone that Rema and Maha Apa would take me around,” he said.

Later, her family told him that Ayesha was not keen on meeting him as she had put on lot of weight and that the photographs sent to him were old ones.

Shoaib said he was forced into marriage over telephone in June 2002. “We accidentally ran into the truth about who Ayesha was in August 2005. My brother-in-law got a photograph of a teacher in Saudi Arabia who was telling people around her that she is married to me. I was

aghast when I saw the photograph of the teacher. She was the woman I knew as Maha Apa,” he said.

The cricketer claimed that Ayesha had apologised to him when he confronted her with the truth.

Case of cheating registered against Shoaib

Compounding the wedding woes of sporting icons Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik, the Andhra Pradesh Police today registered a case of cheating against the Pakistani cricketer following a complaint by Hyderabadi girl Ayesha Siddiqui who claims to be his first wife. Hours after Shoaib broke his silence and claimed that he was a victim of impersonation, Ayesha’s father drove to the Banjara Hills police station and filed a complaint against the cricketer. It was alleged that Shoaib had cheated Ayesha after marrying her in 2002, and was now preparing to wed Sania without divorcing his first wife.

20 held for burning Sania’s posters

Does Azharuddin know the truth?

Hyderabad, April 4
Are former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin and his wife Sangita Bijlani witness to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and his ‘first wife’ Ayesha staying in a city hotel?

If one believes the family friends of Ayesha Siddiqui, who claims to be Shoaib’s first wife, Azharuddin and Sangita were staying in the same hotel where the Pakistani cricketer and Ayesha were sharing a room after their ‘marriage’ in 2002.
The claims are significant as Shoaib, who is set to marry tennis star Sania Mirza later this month, is refusing to accept Ayesha as his first wife.

However, Ayesha today told some television channels that Shoaib met her several times during his visit to Hyderabad, they spent time together and that she has witnesses to prove this.

Ayesha also claimed that two employees of Taj Residency, where she shared a room with Shoaib, were ready to testify.

Siddiqui’s family friends in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, said the couple, during their stay at the hotel, also met Azharuddin, now a Member of Parliament, and his wife Sangita.

While Shoaib claims he never met Ayesha, the latter insists that they met on several occasions since 2001, but the cricketer, who was not a big star then, lost interest in her due to her being overweight.

Ayesha’s family has already released copies of the ‘nikahnama’ issued in Pakistan and signed by Shoaib. A video footage of a ‘Man of the Match’ presentation ceremony after the India-Pakistan practice match in Hyderabad in 2005 is also being seen as proof. Shoaib had said at the ceremony that Hyderabad was the home town of his wife.

After the match, the Pakistani team was also feted with a dinner at the residence of Ayesha in Banjara Hills. — IANS