Sharjah, August 11: Separated from her two sons, Sharjah-based Pakistani mother has pinned hopes on her fervent prayers being answered this Ramadan, as she fights a complicated custody battle against her Indian husband who has flown with the children to India.
Irum, 27, has been separated from her sons, Arafath, four and Hasanath, two, for the last seven months and she says every moment has been a nightmare for her, according to Dubai-based tabloid Xpress.
The battle with her estranged husband is complicated because of the nature of relationship between the two countries, the countries of origin of Irum and her husband Mir Zarafath Ali. What also further complicates the matter is the fact that both the children are Indian passport holders.
However, the mother of two, who works in a telecom company, has moved the Sharjah Shariah Court and is hopeful of being united with her kids.
“I have faith in Allah. I am sure my prayers won’t go unanswered in this holy month,” she said wiping away her tears.
On August 8, the court summoned Ali. He didn’t show up. Instead, he sent Irum a Letter of Reconciliation laying down some bizarre terms and conditions for his return. Among them: Irum will give him whatever she has earned since he has been away; provide a break-up of her expenditure all this while; agree to hand him whatever she earns in future; not maintain any social networking account; visit her family only once a week and not leave home without her husband’s permission.
Irum will forego the right to take legal action against Ali if she signs the draft, says a clause in the Letter of Reconciliation.
Irum and Ali got married in the UAE in November 2006, but their bliss didn’t last long. They had regular fights. Irum claims the fights became more frequent and intense when Ali lost his job and his family business in Sharjah suffered losses.
“He started to live off my salary. When that wasn’t enough, he started selling my jewellery. One by one he sold off all the pieces. I didn’t mind that as I wanted to salvage our relationship. But when he sold the last piece, he threw me out of the house. Two days later, he flew away with my kids to India,” said the grief-stricken mother.
Desperate to have her kids back Irum has now urged Indian authorities and NGOs to intervene. “This is not about India and Pakistan, this is about a mother and her children,” she said.
PK Askok Babu, Consul (media) at the Consulate General of India admitted the case is “complicated”.
“It was brought to our notice after Ali had left for India. Ali had approached the Consulate… he has been advised to take the legal route to resolve the dispute with his wife,” Babu said in an e-mail statement to Xpress.
On his part, Ali denies any wrongdoing. He said he was ready to accept Irum provided she signs the Letter of Reconciliation and mends her ways. “I have seen her smoking and drinking and have photographs to prove that,” he said over the phone from India. He said he has mailed the offending pictures to the judge, but refused to send them to Xpress. “I respect the privacy of my wife and do not want to malign her.”
Irum ridicules the queer reasoning. “If he can talk about my supposed smoking and drinking habits, why can’t he send the pictures as well?”
–Agencies