Runaway Afghan couple: Twice delayed, case to be taken up by new judge today

Family court now has six days to give a ruling. PHOTO: EXPRESS

The case could not be taken up on Monday due to absence of a judge – the same reason that it could not be taken up on its earlier hearing last Saturday. Officials said that Justice Quratulain, the family court judge who was hearing the case, has been transferred to Mardan and a new judge appointed in her place will hear the case on Tuesday. The family court now has six days left to decide the case.

The PHC on July 31 had asked a family court to decide the case of two Afghan nationals, Mariyam and Haiwad, who feared that they would be murdered for eloping against the will of Mariyam’s family.

The couple claimed to have fled Kabul in July to wed in Abbottabad after they learned that Mariyam’s parents wanted her to marry her dead sister’s husband, Abdul Rehman.

The case took a new turn when Mariyam’s mother and brother appeared in court along with Abdul Rehman, claiming he was her real husband. They informed that Rehman later had a stroke and was left partially paralysed, adding that the couple entered into a dispute two months earlier, which could be the reason she ran away.

The case was brought to light after the couple claimed to have been located by Rehman’s family on July 14 and received death threats.

In response, the PHC had directed that the couple be given separate accommodation and security until their case was decided.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2012.