PESHAWAR: A Bosnian woman has moved the provincial anti-harassment ombudsperson against her stepson and brothers-in-law alleging they’re trying to deprive her of property given to her by her late Pakistani husband as dower (haq mehr).

Ms Jasna Fajkovic filed the complaint under Section 4 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Enforcement of Women Property Rights Act, 2019, seeking directives of ombudsperson Rukhshanda Naz for the revenue authorities to transfer that property, including a house and a two kanals plot, in her name.

She requested the ombudsperson to stop the three respondents from “interfering” in that property.

The complainant sought orders for the police and administration in Swat district to provide her with property security.

Alleges her late husband’s son, brothers trying to grab property

The respondents included the complainant’s stepson, Sikandar Bakht, brothers of her late husband, including Kabir Khan and Saadullah Khan, the revenue officer of Khwazakhela, Swat, and Swat’s deputy commissioner.

The complaint was filed through advocate Tariq Afghan.

Under Section 4 of the said Act, any woman deprived of ownership or possession of her property by any means may file a complaint to the ombudsperson appointed under the Protection of Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, who can then initiate action on the complaint.

The complainant said she was a Bosnian resident by origin and had married Bakht Karam Khan (late) when both worked in Bosnia.

She said she and her husband shifted to Swat a few years ago as he served in a government project under the auspices of the Swiss Development Cooperation.

The complainant said her husband suffered from cancer, so she tried her level best for his recovery by arranging treatment in the leading hospitals.

She added that she had spent all her money and gold ornaments on the treatment and even sold out her property in Bosnia, but her husband didn’t survive.

The complainant claimed that her late husband had given her a house and a plot measuring two kanals as haq mahr (dower).

She alleged that the three respondents had now been exerting pressure on her and had even threatened to kill her if she did not leave the said property as well as the country.

The woman claimed that she was subjected to severe mental torture and feared for her life. She also said she had health issues and had no relatives or resources to claim her right.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2022