Indonesian woman recovered, returns home

Refuses to pursue legal proceedings for recovery of her two-month-old child

HYDERABAD:

An Indonesian woman, who was recovered by police from her husband's house in Qasimabad on a judicial order a day earlier, was allowed to return to her country on Saturday following a court order.

Indah Marlyan, the mother of a two-month-old child, refused to file a legal case against her husband, whom she accused of taking away her passport and other relevant documents. She also declined to pursue legal proceedings for the recovery of her child.

Marlyan was later allowed to leave with Indonesian diplomats, who had attended the court hearing and remained engaged with the relevant government departments for her recovery.

Nasreen Palijo, an official of the Sindh Women Development Department (WDD), told The Express Tribune that her office received Marlyan's complaint through WDD Karachi on August 9.

"I immediately tried to contact Marlyan on her Indonesian WhatsApp number to obtain more details and ascertain her location," Palijo said, adding that she subsequently approached Naseem Nagar police for the woman's recovery.

"The police failed to take prompt action. They delayed visits to her residence and later gave us in writing that no Indonesian woman was living at the given address," she said.

By the night of August 10, the WDD had concluded that the Naseem Nagar police were not willing to cooperate, according to Palijo.

On August 12, Palijo's assistant, Ishtiaq Channa, filed a complaint before the district and sessions judge, Hyderabad, who ordered the police to produce Marlyan before the court.

According to Palijo, the police recovered Marlyan from the house of her husband, Hamza Mirza, on August 14.

Interestingly, Mirza had lodged an informal complaint with the police on Friday about his wife's disappearance, only for the police to later recover her from his own house.