Unwanted: ‘Send the children to an orphanage’
Divorced couple fight over children’s custody in court.
LAHORE:
A scuffle erupted between a divorced husband and wife at a family court on Saturday over the custody of their two children and alimony.
Musarrat Tasneem had filed a suit for recovery of maintenance allowance in a family court against her husband Qari Muhammad Ashraf. On Saturday, as proceedings began, the respondent’s brother sought a continuance, saying Ashraf was out of the city, a court staffer told The Express Tribune.
Tasneem pleaded that she had been fighting the case for a year and needed it resolved. The judge declared that the respondent better show up at the court at 2pm, or he would deliver an ex-parte judgement.
Musarrat Tasneem and her brothers waited outside the courtroom and Ashraf and his counsel approached them. Witnesses saw the couple get into a heated argument.
Musarrat Tasneem told him that he must pay her for child support or take the children because she could not afford it. Ashraf was heard telling her he would not do so and he would not live with a woman who limped.
Musarrat Tasneem’s brother Rahat Ali Jafri took offence and started shouting at Ashraf.
The latter’s lawyer also began shouting and called on other lawyers to help him teach Jafri a lesson. Some lawyers intervened and prevented any violence.
However, the court proceedings were delayed as the judge had to go on short leave.
A duty judge set February 8 as the date for the next hearing.
Tasneem told The Express Tribune that Ashraf was a schoolteacher and was now planning his sixth wedding. She said that her husband had left her without warning.
“I was shocked when he told me he wasn’t coming home and wanted to get divorced.
I later found his phone diary and called a few numbers. He had written men’s names next to the numbers but my calls were answered by women. I will produce the diary at the next hearing,” she said.
She also produced her nikah nama before the court, in which the marital status column was not filled.
She said that Ashraf did not inform her about his past marriages before their wedding.
Musarrat Tasneem said that the couple had wed on May 12, 2005, and had two daughters aged three and six. She told the court that Ashraf earned Rs25,000 per month and asked that he be ordered to pay her and the children Rs15,000 per month.
Tasneem’s lawyer Zulfiqar Bhatti said that in earlier proceedings, the counsel for the respondent had suggested that the girls live with their father and his client had agreed to this, but they later changed their mind and asked for more time to make a decision.
“It has been three months and three continuations since then. Ashraf has not decided on the children’s custody, nor has he been paying maintenance,” he said.
Ashraf and his lawyer Muhammad Alam declined to comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2012.
A scuffle erupted between a divorced husband and wife at a family court on Saturday over the custody of their two children and alimony.
Musarrat Tasneem had filed a suit for recovery of maintenance allowance in a family court against her husband Qari Muhammad Ashraf. On Saturday, as proceedings began, the respondent’s brother sought a continuance, saying Ashraf was out of the city, a court staffer told The Express Tribune.
Tasneem pleaded that she had been fighting the case for a year and needed it resolved. The judge declared that the respondent better show up at the court at 2pm, or he would deliver an ex-parte judgement.
Musarrat Tasneem and her brothers waited outside the courtroom and Ashraf and his counsel approached them. Witnesses saw the couple get into a heated argument.
Musarrat Tasneem told him that he must pay her for child support or take the children because she could not afford it. Ashraf was heard telling her he would not do so and he would not live with a woman who limped.
Musarrat Tasneem’s brother Rahat Ali Jafri took offence and started shouting at Ashraf.
The latter’s lawyer also began shouting and called on other lawyers to help him teach Jafri a lesson. Some lawyers intervened and prevented any violence.
However, the court proceedings were delayed as the judge had to go on short leave.
A duty judge set February 8 as the date for the next hearing.
Tasneem told The Express Tribune that Ashraf was a schoolteacher and was now planning his sixth wedding. She said that her husband had left her without warning.
“I was shocked when he told me he wasn’t coming home and wanted to get divorced.
I later found his phone diary and called a few numbers. He had written men’s names next to the numbers but my calls were answered by women. I will produce the diary at the next hearing,” she said.
She also produced her nikah nama before the court, in which the marital status column was not filled.
She said that Ashraf did not inform her about his past marriages before their wedding.
Musarrat Tasneem said that the couple had wed on May 12, 2005, and had two daughters aged three and six. She told the court that Ashraf earned Rs25,000 per month and asked that he be ordered to pay her and the children Rs15,000 per month.
Tasneem’s lawyer Zulfiqar Bhatti said that in earlier proceedings, the counsel for the respondent had suggested that the girls live with their father and his client had agreed to this, but they later changed their mind and asked for more time to make a decision.
“It has been three months and three continuations since then. Ashraf has not decided on the children’s custody, nor has he been paying maintenance,” he said.
Ashraf and his lawyer Muhammad Alam declined to comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2012.