Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Pakistan 'same-sex' couple jailed - Update

A Pakistani court has jailed a married couple for three years for perjury after a dispute over the husband's sex.

Last week the court ruled that the husband was, in fact, a woman, despite sex-change surgery and that the couple had lied about his sexual status.

Shahzina Tariq and Shumail Raj

Shumail Raj, 31, had sex-change surgery to become a man and then married his cousin - who was aware of the condition but says she needed his help to avoid being forced into wedlock with someone else.

He is reported to have undergone surgery twice in Pakistan over the past 16 years to become a man.

But tests carried out by doctors on behalf of the court ruled that Raj, who has a beard an moustache, was still a woman.

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