HYDERABAD, Jan 18: A girl, Sakina, said at a news conference at the press club here on Wednesday that she had embraced Islam and married Tillan Khan of her own will and without any pressure.

Sakina, who is a resident of the Essa Khan Lohar village in Dera Murad Jamali, Naseerabad district, Balochistan, said she was 18 years old and legally entitled to marry a man of her own choice. Her husband was also present.

The girl, originally belonging to an Oadh family, said she had embraced Islam at the hands of Maulana Taj Mohammad Nahiyoon, administrator of Madressah Muariful Uloom, Thandi Sarak, Hyderabad, on Jan 16 and had married Tillan Khan in the court of the XIIth civil judge and judicial magistrate of Hyderabad, the same day.

She said that her father Punhal, mother, brothers and some influential people of her clan were opposed to the marriage and they were threatening her with dire consequences if she did not renounce Islam.

The couple demanded that authorities should provide them with protection.

Answering a question, Tillan Khan, son of Ghulam Mohammad, said a case of kidnapping had been registered against him at the Saddar police station, Dera Murad Jamali, in which his father and two brothers had been arrested. He demanded their release.