Runaway Afghan couple: Twice delayed, case to be taken up by new judge today
The case of a runaway Afghan couple, which the Peshawar High Court (PHC) had directed a family court to decide within 40 days with no adjournment, has been delayed twice.
The case could not be taken up on Monday due to absence of a judge - the same reason that it could not be taken up on its earlier hearing last Saturday. Officials said that Justice Quratulain, the family court judge who was hearing the case, has been transferred to Mardan and a new judge appointed in her place will hear the case on Tuesday. The family court now has six days left to decide the case.
The PHC on July 31 had asked a family court to decide the case of two Afghan nationals, Mariyam and Haiwad, who feared that they would be murdered for eloping against the will of Mariyam’s family.
The couple claimed to have fled Kabul in July to wed in Abbottabad after they learned that Mariyam’s parents wanted her to marry her dead sister’s husband, Abdul Rehman.
The case took a new turn when Mariyam’s mother and brother appeared in court along with Abdul Rehman, claiming he was her real husband. They informed that Rehman later had a stroke and was left partially paralysed, adding that the couple entered into a dispute two months earlier, which could be the reason she ran away.
The case was brought to light after the couple claimed to have been located by Rehman’s family on July 14 and received death threats.
In response, the PHC had directed that the couple be given separate accommodation and security until their case was decided.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 4th, 2012.
COMMENTS (9)
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@Amir Ommani,, dont worry,, Pak govt has set December 31, 2012 deadline and has asked all the registered and unregistered Afghan refugees (brothers and sisters) to leave for their respective areas,, OTHERWISE .......they will all be put behind bars.. (an additional burden for our already overburdened jails)..
We will welcome you to INDIA.. :)
Leave them alone and let them get married if that is what they desire. I will take her parents words with a grain of salt. Remember what has happened to a couple from Mardan when they agreed to go back to her parents for a visit, both of them were killed. No more killing of the love birds.
@amir Omani there are many things in Pakistan we can't afford any more...corruption, false charges & minorites being abused to flee their homeland while majority of us Pakistanis are stuck in a paralysis of non action!
@Ulrike from Germany: we hav 3 millions of runaway refuges b4
we cant afford anymore.........
@Ulrike from Germany: Probably they might have come to Pakistan illegally! OR they might have claimed asylum!
I have much sympathy for this young couple who seem to be very much in love with each other. Otherwise they wouldn't take such a risk to flee to Pakistan to get married there. But what I don't understand is how can a Pakistani court decide the case of Afghan nationals? After all, they didn't commit any crime on Pakistani soil.
Will those bringing false cases against the couple be ounushed if proven. I doubt it
Are those bringing false cases agasint the couple really Muslims? I doubt that too. Being born in a Muslim family does not necessarily make you a true Muslim.