Police question Shoaib Malik over plans to marry Sania Mirza

• 'First wife' makes allegations against Pakistan cricketer
• Malik gives statement to police about complaints


Shoaib Malik addresses the media outside his fiancee Sania Mirza's home before being questioned by police.

Indian police in Hyderabad have questioned the former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik about his planned marriage to India's highest-ever ranked female tennis player Sania Mirza over allegations made by a woman claiming to be the cricketer's first wife.

Malik has been asked not to leave India while police in Hyderabad investigate the charges, AK Khan, a senior police official, said this morning.

In her complaint, filed yesterday, Ayesha Siddique alleged that Malik married her in June 2002 and she accused him of subjecting her to cruelty and harassment by denying that the wedding took place and by trying to marry another woman.

Police visited the home of Mirza in Hyderabad, the capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh, where Malik is staying and took down a statement this morning, Stephan Ravindra, a deputy commissioner of police said.

Police are investigating complaints of criminal intimidation, cheating, fraud and harassment for dowry against the Pakistan cricketer, Ravindra said. Police also questioned the complainant, Siddique.

Malik and Siddique had reportedly developed a friendship on the internet.

Malik, who has been banned from representing Pakistan for a year because of reports of infighting within the team during the tour of Australia at the beginning of the year, said in a written statement on Sunday that he had married a girl named Ayesha over the telephone in June 2002 and signed a marriage certificate but he believed he had been deceived by another woman claiming to be Ayesha Siddique.

He arrived in Hyderabad, Mirza's hometown, from Pakistan last week to finalise arrangements for his wedding to the tennis player, which is scheduled to take place on 15 April. Mirza broke off a previous engagement earlier this year before announcing her plans to marry Malik.

The news of the Malik-Mirza wedding plans sparked blanket coverage on the subcontinent because of the longstanding tension between Pakistan and India.

Siddique claims to have a copy of "Nikahnama" or a marriage certificate issued by the Pakistan authorities in Malik's hometown Sialkot in June 2002. It carries the signature of Shoaib Malik as well as those of two witnesses.

Farooq Hasan, a lawyer representing Siddique in Pakistan, told reporters in Lahore that he will soon be filing case against Malik in Pakistan's civil and criminal courts.

"We will also try to stop Malik's marriage with Sania Mirza," Hasan said. "If the courts in Pakistan asked, Ayesha Siddique will also travel to Pakistan and appear before the courts.

"The courts in Pakistan will decide about the authentication of Nikahnama." Hasan said that he had received initial documents from the Siddique family and wouild file the case on the basis of that evidence.