This is with reference to the heinous practice of domestic violence.
LAHORE: This is with reference to the heinous practice of domestic violence. There should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that Islam forbids physical abuse of women and makes it mandatory for a man to provide for maintenance of his children till such time that they can become self-sufficient.
I am personally aware of the divorce case of a female lawyer in Lahore who was married to a lawyer. She has recently started practising as an associate of a senior lawyer. The divorce came after a violent attack on the woman, causing her a severe head injury. The attack was prompted by the ex-husband because the woman had filed a petition with a court seeking maintenance of the two children she had had while married to the man. Ever since she did that, several fake cases were filed against her at her former husband’s behest by another lawyer. Clearly, this has been done only to harass the poor woman and compel her to take back her maintenance petition.
That after 15 years of marriage the former husband finds the former in-laws to be criminals and the coincidence that all such cases are filed following the divorce should have raised many eyebrows within the judiciary which is hearing such cases. In this instance, the female lawyer happens to belong to a respectable family and her late father had served as a provincial secretary, so she is able to fight these fabricated cases. But this harassment following abusive divorces has become the norm. Prominent lawyers such as Asma Jahangir, Iqbal Hyder, Aitzaz Ahsan and Hamid Khan must take pro-active measures to eradicate this harassment of women.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2010.
