Peshawar High Court: FIA recovers children on Kyrgyz mother’s plea

Court orders Child Protection Centre to take custody.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has given the custody of two children to the Child Protection Centre (CPC), after their Kyrgyz mother claimed they had been shifted to Pakistan without her knowledge.

The children were recovered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from Sra Dheray area of district Mardan.

Shaukat Ali, a resident of Swabi had married a Kyrgyz national Temirove Nurzhana in Kyrgyzstan in 2005. In 2011, he brought his two children, Ahmad,5, and Sudais, 3, to Pakistan on fake documents, Nurzhana alleged.

When she realised that her children had been shifted to Pakistan, she requested her embassy in Islamabad to take up the matter with Pakistani authorities and give her custody of the children. The embassy conveyed the message to the department concerned which directed the police to recover the children.

However, when the police failed to find the children, the PHC ordered the FIA to search their whereabouts. The children were eventually found at Ali’s brother-in-law Nawaz Khan’s residence.

In her application, Nurzhana told the court that she had been kept in the dark and not informed before her children were shifted to Pakistan.

The division bench temporarily stopped proceedings when the court learnt about the death of Justice Azmatullah Malik. However, due to the urgency of the matter, Chief Justice (CJ) Dost Muhammad Khan continued the hearing at his chamber.

Shaukat’s counsel, Usman Khan Turlandi said that both children were studying in religious schools and had complete command of Pashto. He urged the court not to give custody of the children to their mother.

Nurzhana’s counsel Sheikh Riazul Haq, however, did not appear at the hearing. The chief justice said a verdict cannot be given in the absence of the parents and ordered the CPC to take custody of Ahmad and Sudais.

Meanwhile, Nawaz told The Express Tribune that Ali had moved to England. But FIA Inspector Sardar Baber told reporters that when Shaukat’s mobile was tracked it was confirmed that he had fled to Japan. It is presumed that he flew to Japan via Afghanistan, as the FIA could not find his entire travelling data at airports in Pakistan. The hearing has been adjourned till June 12.