Two men were “married” during the past week in a tribal ceremony in Pakistan, according to international news reports.

The union — between a 42-year-old Afghan refugee and a 16-year-old tribesman in the Khyber region bordering Afghanistan — is Pakistan’s first same-sex marriage, the BBC reported.

People of the same sex are not permitted to marry, however, in the conservative Muslim country. Homosexuality is also punishable under the country’s sodomy laws, with possible prison sentences ranging from two years to life.

An Urdu-language newspaper reported that the older man in the pair paid the 16-year-old’s impoverished parents for permission to marry their son. The sum was reportedly 40,000 rupees (almost $700).

Tribal leaders in the region told the pair to flee or be killed, because they broke tribal “values and ethics.”

In May, a gay couple in the Khyber region were lashed publicly because they were caught having sex.

In cities like Islamabad and Karachi, gay couples are reportedly more common, but they have no legal protections.

PlanetOut.com