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Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik on Monday said he had been tricked into marriage with local girl Ayesha Siddiqui when he was questioned by police in the wake of a complaint of cheating by her father against him.
On Monday mornig, a police team reached the posh Jubilee Hill residence of 23-year-old tennis star Sania Mirza where Shoaib, 28, has been staying since his arrival here on Saturday following a complaint lodged on Sunday by Mohammed Siddiqui, the father of Ayesha, at the Banjara Hill police station.
In fresh trouble for Shoaib, who is scheduled to get married to Sania on April 15, the Hyderabad Police have alerted the immigration authorities about the criminal complaint, a move that could pose difficulties for Shoaib to leave the country.
"We are trying to collect evidence. Shoaib is cooperating and Sania is supporting him. They say they know the truth behind the whole issue," a police official said after the team talked to the cricketer for one-and-a-half hours.
During questioning, Shoaib told the police that he had been "cheated" by the Siddiqui family and tricked into marriage, he said.
The Pakistani cricketer had on Sunday claimed that he was emotionally forced into the nikahnama with the Hyderabad girl but said the marriage was invalid as her family had cheated him and ruled out divorce.
He said to this day he has not met the girl whose photographs were sent to him by the Siddiqui family purported to be that of Ayesha.
The charges against Shoaib are that of harassment of Ayesha, cheating to marry another girl and criminal intimidation including threats to her to keep quiet, according to Hyderabad Police Commissioner A K Khan.