LAHORE, Sept 12: A widow, who had filed a habeas corpus petition for the recovery of her five-month-old son from the custody of her in-laws, on Friday refused to accept an infant produced in the Lahore High Court as her own.

Justice Rustam Ali Malik had directed the Sharaqpur police SHO to produce five-month-old Ali Imran in court after recovering him from the custody of petitioner Rehana’s mother-in-law Khursheed Bibi.

Khursheed Bibi brought an infant in court, claiming him to be Ali Imran. However, the mother started crying, saying the infant was not her son and the respondent had brought someone else’s child.

“Even a pet cat can recognize her kittens. How can I err in recognizing my son,” she said in response to the court query as to whether she was sure that the infant produced in the court was not her son.

The court expressed displeasure over this, and directed the SHO concerned and the respondent to produce Rehana’s son on Sept 17. It also reprimanded Khursheed Bibi for trying to hoodwink the court, and warned her of a strict action in case Ali Imran was not produced in court by the next date of hearing.

On the last date of hearing, the bailiff deputed to recover the infant had informed the court that the respondent had snatched Ali from his mother and refused to return him.

The bailiff also claimed that as he handed over the child to his mother after recovering him from the house, the respondent got hold of him by his neck and tried to snatch him from the petitioner. Fearing that the scuffle between the two women might endanger the infant’s life, the petitioner returned the infant to her mother-in-law, who immediately took him to the her house.

The bailiff said he did not proceed further, as he was not authorized to do so.