GUJRANWALA: In an out-of-the-ordinary matrimonial case, Additional District and Sessions Judge Mustafa Tanveer Safwaat on Friday ordered the DNA test of the plaintiff and the defendant to verify their relationship as both have been making contradictory claims.

The judge, hearing the case of alleged marriage of a youth (defendant) with his sister (plaintiff’s daughter from another wife), adjourned further proceedings till July 28.

On Jan 17 last, Faiza Batool, daughter of Abbas Ali Shah, tied the knot with Karamat Ali Shah, son of Haji Shah (of Pindi Bhattian) without her father’s consent. Ten days later, Faiza recorded her statement before a Pindi Bhattian magistrate that she had married her cousin Karamat Ali Shah of her own free will.

She said a few days after marriage (on Jan 24), her father Abbas Shah and brothers Safdar Husain and Azhar came to her house and thrashed her, prompting her to seek legal protection against them.

It was on July 5th last that Abbas Ali Shah, son of Hayat Ali Shah (of Gujranwala), filed a complaint with the Baghbanpura police station submitting that he married Ghulam Fatima 30 years ago and divorced her after eight months, but she gave birth to a child named Karamat Ali and later got married to one Haji Shah.

Karamat started calling on his house and on Jan 15, 2007, he turned up in his absence, accompanied by Mubarik Shah, Muhammad Shah and Fida Husain, and abducted his daughter Faiza Batool (Abbas’ daughter from second wife) in the presence of witnesses Muhammad Aslam, Ghulam Qadir and Zulfiqar Ali who were there for seeking spiritual treatment from him, according to the plaintiff. Thereafter, the police registered a case.

During the July 11 hearing by the AD&SJ, Fatima recorded her statement claiming that she was not abducted and was the legitimate wife of Karamat. She denied her father’s claim that she and her husband were siblings.

Declaring it a matter of serious nature, the judge on Friday directed the police investigation officer to determine the relationship between Karamat and Faiza by employing all possible means, but the police could not reach any conclusion.

Sub-inspector Muhammad Ashfaq of Baghbanpura police station, who is investigating the case, told Dawn that he had tried his level best to reach any definite conclusion but to no avail. In such circumstances, he said, the DNA test could be the only option to weed out the problem.

Defendant’s counsel Fayyaz Ahmad Bhatti produced the marriage certificate of Ghulam Fatima and Haji Shah and transfer of the latter’s property on her name in 1986 to prove that she did not marry anyone else in her life. On the other hand, Ghulam Qadir, a witness from the plaintiff’s side, testified the claim of the plaintiff who, however, could not produce a certificate of his marriage with Ghulam Fatima.

At this the judge ordered the DNA test of Abbas Ali and Karamat Ali to verify their relationship.

Karamat, who is still on an interim bail, told Dawn (outside court) that he would not go for the DNA test as it was repugnant to Islam and would rather place writ petitions in higher courts against the AD&SJ’s decision.

Insisting that he was not Abbas’ son, he argued that in fact Faiza’s father broke their engagement because of his sore relations with his (Karamat’s) relatives and he and Faiza had opted for love marriage.

Abbas, on the other hand, sounded more than certain that Karamat was his real son and said he had submitted Rs10,000 with the Baghbanpura police for the DNA test which would prove the relationship.

He said Karamat proposed his daughter Faiza which he refused because she was Karamat’s sister, though their mothers were different. But he (the lad) took her daughter away, he added.

He said he had lost the certificate testifying his marriage with Ghulam Fatima and one witness of the marriage had died while the second was Ghulam Qadir who had corroborated the claims made by him (Abbas).— Imran Saleem