Elderly Pakistani Widower duped into Marrying Transwoman

An elderly Pakistani man from Upper Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was scammed by a conman after he married a transwoman. In the process, he lost Rs. 150,000 (£780) which was claimed to be dowry.

The man was identified as Jan Saaz who was looking to get married for the second time after his wife passed away in 2016.

He had met a man in Peshawar who claimed to be a matchmaker. He had promised to find Jan a bride.

The supposed matchmaker later introduced Jan to Sapna but he was unaware that she was a transwoman.

Similarly, the matchmaker told Sapna that Jan wanted to get married to her and knew that she was a transwoman.

Jan’s family claimed that they paid the matchmaker Rs. 150,000 in cash as dowry. They paid a further Rs. 150,000 on the wedding and food for the ceremony.

After everything was paid for, the wedding took place in front of the villagers.

But on the wedding night, the elderly Pakistani man was shocked to discover that Sapna was a transwoman and realised that he had been duped.

Sapna was also shocked that she had been conned after the matchmaker told her that her husband-to-be knew that she was a transwoman.

The day after, Jan took Sapna in a car and told his family that she was unwell and he was taking her to her home in Peshawar.

He went with her to the train station and bought a ticket for her. Sapna later went back to her home.

Jan eventually told his family what had happened.

According to the Tribune, the elderly man explained that he decided to tell his family the truth after dropping Sapna off as he feared that his family, friends and villagers would become violent towards her if they knew.

However, his family supported him and understood that he had been scammed.

Jan’s family intend to register a case against the fake matchmaker. According to them, he conned both Jan and Sapna.

Within South Asian countries, there have been a number of scams involving marriage.

Sometimes the scam has been committed by one of those who are getting married.

In one case, a 28-year-old woman married a 70-year-old man in Punjab’s Sargodha district.

Prior to the marriage, the groom had given Rs. 70,000 and valuable jewellery to his future wife.

However, the man claimed that his wife mixed sleeping pills into his drink on the wedding night. When he woke up the next day, she had disappeared with the valuables.

The man informed the police about what happened and claimed that an “organised gang” had been involved.