KARACHI, Oct 24: A division bench of the Sindh High Court, on Wednesday, allowed a constitutional petition of a widow and ordered that her four young daughters languishing in Darul Aman, Larkana, be handed over to live with their mother here.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice of the SHC, Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Musheer Alam passed the order when the constitutional petition of Ms Mari, a widow from Larkana, came up for hearing.

The petitioner and her four daughters were present in court. The girls, who had become victims of the treachery and feudal mentality of their uncles after the death of their father 20 years ago, were produced on the court’s directives.

When the matter came up, the girls filed their affidavits and said that they would like to live with their mother who was living in Gosha-i-Aafiyat, a shelter for destitute and poor women.

It was the case of the petitioner, represented by Zia Awan, advocate, that after the death of her husband, she and her daughters were kept in wrongful confinement by the brothers of her deceased husband.

Somehow the petitioner and her four daughters managed to escape from their confinement. The three brothers of her deceased husband kept searching for them because they wanted to grab the property left behind by her late husband, to which she and her daughters were legally entitled.

Ultimately, the daughters had to seek refuge in Darul Aman, Larkana, after considering threat to their lives.

It was the case of the petitioner that her husband was the only educated person in his family and was doing good business in Larkana. But his brothers were involved in criminal activities and became jealous of her husband.

The petitioner had alleged that due to refusal by her husband to help his brothers because they were not ready to abandon their illegal activities, they hatched a conspiracy and eliminated her husband.

It was also contended by the petitioner that her husband, Abdul Ghafoor, was allegedly murdered by his brothers. At the time of the incident, brothers of the petitioner’s husband took away the briefcase in which half-a-million rupees in cash were kept for deposit in the bank.

They took away the money on the pretext that it was needed for the treatment of the petitioner’s husband and told her that he would be taken to London for treatment. They had also demanded the keys to get more money and also deprived the petitioner of all jewellry and documents of agricultural land and properties.

Brothers of the petitioner’s husband, Ghulam and Jaro Khan, also got transferred 32 Jiraib land of Larkana in their name fraudulently, Ali Dost got transferred 70 Jiraibs of land of Pulri, factories and a shop in his name.

The father-in-law of the petitioner tried to lodge an FIR against his sons for the murder of the petitioner’s husband but was forced not to do this, as after death of one son he would have to suffer the loss of his other sons, the petitioner claimed.

After the death of the petitioner’s husband, her father-in-law started looking after Ms Mari and her daughters. Meanwhile, the petitioner’s step-brothers sent a message to her to join them as they wanted to get her remarried, but the father-in-law, as a guardian, advised her against it. The petitioner thus declined the offer made by her step-brothers.

The petitioner alleged that they faced a lot of hardships in order to meet expenses. When one of the petitioner’s daughter passed matriculation, one of the brothers of her late husband forcibly got this daughter married to a relative.

The petitioner also alleged that brothers of her late husband also tried to kill their father.

After the death of her father-in-law, when the condolence process was completed, they started subjecting the petitioner and her daughters to extreme cruelties. The petitioner and her daughters were inflicted many injuries when the petitioner and daughter showed their inability to meet their demands.

In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, the petitioner prayed for directing the respondent to produce her four daughters, namely, Latifan Parveen, Janatul Biqiya, Hanifan Begum and Bilquis Kanwal.

Counsel for the petitioner, Zia Awan, submitted that management of Gosha-i-Aafiyat had permitted the widow to call her four daughters at their Trust and were prepared to make suitable arrangements for them.

He submitted that application of these girls was pending before the Additional Sessions Judge, Abdul Ghani Soomro, at Larkana, and the girls have been produced before him a few times.

Advocate General Sindh, Raja Qureshi and Masood Noorani, AAG, submitted that they had no objection if the four girls wanted to live their mother as they were major and it was their legitimate right.

The AG also offered to provide escort for shifting the girls to their new abode.

The court accordingly allowed the petition and directed to inform the in-charge of Darul Aman, Larkana, accordingly.