Custody row: Children to be reunited with mother

Judge directs SHO to recover two children from their father’s custody and hand them over to their mother.

LAHORE: The district and sessions judge on Tuesday directed the Sattukattla SHO to recover two children from their father’s custody and hand them over to their mother. The court also directed the SHO to register a case against the father.

Sobia Bibi had filed a habeas corpus petition in District and Sessions Judge Abdul Waheed Khan’s court. She said that she had married Saif Ali five years ago and lived with him in the Niaz Baig area along with their two children, three-year-old Sofian and two-year-old Imran. Their relationship started falling part shortly after their marriage, she added.

Sobia told the court that her husband would frequently abuse her. She said she took her two children to her parents’ home after her husband threw here out from their house. Ali, along with a relative, took the children away from her by force, she informed the court.

The complainant submitted that her family had made efforts to convince Ali to allow the children to join her but he had not relented. She said her husband had illegal custody of her children and requested the court to order their recovery.

The court had sent Ali a notice to appear before it along with the children. Ali, however, did not appear before the court. The judge then ordered Sattukattla SHO to recover the children and reunite them with their mother. The SHO was further instructed to register a case against Ali.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2011.