Marital issues: Family dispute resurfaces as man accuses police of harassment

Wife tells police she is living of her own will

KARACHI: A man, who had complained of harassment by his in-laws last year, has now accused Darakhshan police of doing the same.

Farrukh Patel, who works at a school in Clifton, had complained in July 2014 that his in-laws had attempted to kidnap him from his house in DHA Phase VII. He told the police that he and his estranged wife have been fighting a custody battle over their son, who was granted into his father’s custody. He recalled that on July 4, some men, pretending to be from the intelligence agencies, tried to take him away. They ransacked his house, looking for his child and only left in a hurry as their noises attracted a few neighbours to the gate.

On July 15, a police team raided the house of Patel’s in-laws and took his wife and her parents into custody but they were released later. The dispute has been going on for the past four years.

“This is a family matter and it appears his in-laws were behind the kidnapping attempt,” said the investigation officer, Rasheed.

Since then, the couple apparently reached a settlement and the woman came back to live with Patel. However, Patel complained on Tuesday that Darkhshan police came to their house allegedly to put pressure on him.

“My wife is living with me happily but my father-in-law, with the help of the police, is trying to take my wife back,” Patel told The Express Tribune. “She is my wife so how can the police conduct a raid at my residence and try to arrest me?” His wife had left the house over a dispute last year but, he said, she returned and now the family is living happily.

On Monday night, he claimed that his father-in-law tried to have him arrested. “My wife had filed a divorce application in court but it was not granted,” explained Patel. “Now she is living with me and has no objection.” Patel wanted to know why the police tried to arrest him when his wife told them she has no complaints.

Meanwhile, the police denied conducting a raid at Patel’s house or trying to arrest him. “We visited his residence after his father-in-law complained,” said Darakshan SHO Ghulam Hussain Pirzada. “We have recorded the statement of Patel’s wife that was in favour of Patel. Now the case is in court and the court will give a judgment over the matter.”

Meanwhile, Syed Jawad Shah, Patel’s father-in-law told The Express Tribune that he asked for police help to see his daughter. “I am her father and I have a right to meet her,” said Shah. “When the family refused to let me meet my daughter, I approached the police to help,” he said. “Now I am satisfied that my daughter is alive and happy.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2015.