Lovers Who Married Cleared of Charges

Two Pakistani lovers who married in secret against the wishes of the woman’s influential family were cleared of charges filed when they tried to flee the country. While preparing to board a plane to the United States last month, Humeira Butt and husband Mahmood, a U.S.-based Pakistani businessman, were arrested in Karachi. She was charged with adultery, and he was charged with kidnapping. The couple say they were legally married in May 1997, but Humeira’s family says that she had married a cousin the month before and that Mahmood had kidnapped her. The couple is now free to leave Pakistan, a court in Lahore ruled.