LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday heard a petition of an Indian Muslim woman seeking custody of her two minor sons from the alleged illegal custody of their Pakistani father.

Petitioner Farzana Begum appeared before the court along with her lawyer Bushra Qamar.

The lawyer told the cou­rt that the petitioner contracted marriage with Yo­­u­saf Elahi Mirza of Lahore during 2015 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). From this marriage, she said the couple had two sons in 2016 and 2017, na­­mely Ibrahim and Ismail.

Later, in 2018, the family shifted to Lahore where her husband, who runs bu­­siness in the Gulf, arra­ng­­ed a separate residence for her. However, after reaching Pakistan, Advocate Qamar said, the petitioner came to know that she was his fourth wife.

She said the respondent tortured the petitioner and expelled her from the house, besides taking away the minors.

Farzana, 45, told the court that she did not want to go back to India and wanted to live with her sons in Pakistan.

A government law officer told the court that the respondent took the minors to the UAE.

Justice Amjad Rafiq asked the petitioner’s counsel to assist the court as to how the minors could be brought back to Pakistan from the UAE.

The counsel said she would present multiple judgements and laws empowering the court to get the ‘abducted’ minors extradited.

The judge will resume the hearing next week.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2024