Sultan Golden asserts his wife is 19-year-old, not 12

CHITRAL: Renowned car and motorcycle stuntman Sultan Mohammad Golden on Tuesday claimed that his wife was 19-year-old and not 12 as was being asserted.

Talking to reporters by telephone, he accused the district administration of not paying him Rs8.5 million dues for performing at the Shandur festival in 2019. He claimed that when he pressed the district administration to pay him his dues it created this issue in order to put pressure on him. It may be recalled that Sultan Mohammad Golden, 60, had contracted marriage with the girl identified as Samreen Sahar. However, it was later revealed that she was underage. The nikah of Sultan Golden with the girl had taken place in July this year, but a civil society organisation brought the issue into the notice of the administration, alleging that she was a minor.

This prompted the district administration to order a probe to confirm the age of the girl. The probe confirmed that she was 12 years of age. The vaccination card and the school certificate showed her age as April 10, 2008. It was alleged that the father of the girl, Samreen Sahar, had concealed her school certificate and vaccination card and obtained a birth certificate from Sheshi Koh village council recording her age as above 18. The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) had issued her the computerised national identity card on the basis of the birth certificate. A medical board was also constituted to determine the age of the girl. It was alleged that her father had concealed her school record and vaccination certificate while obtaining the birth certificate from the secretary of village council Sheshi Koh. The administration, it was learnt, asked Nadra last month to proceed against Sultan Golden and Samreen’s father Azizur Rahman under the Nadra Ordinance 2000 for fraudulently obtaining CNIC and concealing age of the child as per her school record.