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LAHORE, Oct 10: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday adjourned for Nov 2 the hearing of a writ petition filed by Louise Anne Fairley, the mother of Misbah Iram Rana, that she wants to come to Pakistan to pursue the case for the custody and repatriation of her daughter to Scotland.
The court accepted the plea, and remarked that the respondent’s (Sajjad Rana) family should also have no objection to it.
The respondent’s counsel submitted that the family would not only welcome Ms Fairley in Pakistan but also would like her to stay with her sons and daughters in Lahore.
He submitted that the family would also like to offer Ms Fairley that Mr Rana would bear all expenditure of her stay in Lahore, whether she chose to be lodged in a hotel or at his home.
The court asked the counsel whether she would accept the offer. The counsel sought time to contact her in the UK before giving a categorical reply.
MISBAH’S STATEMENT: The court also recorded the statement of Misbah Rana.
She stated she came to Pakistan in 2003 and stayed in Lahore for two years. Her father admitted her to a school, she said. She said she went to see her mother in 2005. She felt that her mother’s attitude had changed. Her mother did not allow her to contact her father, brothers and sister even by phone. She wanted to meet her father and others in the family, but her mother had forbidden her to do so.
She submitted she was fed up with her mother’s behaviour and wanted to live with her father who had never stopped her from meeting her mother. She said she arrived in Pakistan on Aug 28 with her sister Tehmina who had travelled to Scotland. She said her mother even forbade her from offering prayers after she started living with a stranger.
She stated she still loved her mother, but could not live in a society where her faith was in danger. She said her father knew about her and her sister’s plan to return to Pakistan and he bore their travel expenses.
She stated she was happy living with her father and did not want to go back to her mother.
Earlier, her counsel stated in his arguments that Pakistan was a natural home of the 12-year-old girl who was a Muslim and was living happily in a Muslim state.
He submitted that Ms Fairley had already forfeited her right of the custody of her child because she turned an apostate and the Islamic jurisprudence does not allow a Muslim child to live with any of the parents renouncing Islam.— Correspondent
