A Pakistani couple who were held in jail for five years for marrying without the consent of the woman's father were ordered by a judge to be released on Sunday.

Sodi, 23, and her husband, Abdul Hakeem Kashkeli, were released after a hearing in the southern city of Hyderabad.

"I am overjoyed. We have got justice at last," Sodi, 23, told reporters. "The judgment shows we have done nothing wrong and it is no crime to marry the man you love."

In Pakistan, women and their husbands can be jailed for marrying without their families' consent if a parent decides to file an adultery case, which was what happened when the woman's father filed a case in 2001.

The court dismissed the adultery case on Sunday after hearing a statement from the maulvi, or Muslim preacher, who had performed the marriage.