Estranged father kidnaps own children in Pakistan

Lahore – Recently two Pakistani children were kidnapped by their Muslim father from the court premises of Lahore where they had been brought for a court supervised visitation session.

Abdul Ghaffar kidnapped his five–year–old son and three–year–old daughter, fleeing from the Lahore Family Court with them around noontime, shortly after he had begun a two–hour visit alone with them.

There has been no trace since of the whereabouts of the children or their father, who is from Gujranwala, 40 miles north of Lahore. “Their mother is very sad and very worried about the children,” a Christian lawyer involved in the case commented.

The presiding judge over Ghaffar’s child custody case has declared that the abduction constituted contempt of court. Furious, he promptly filed criminal charges of kidnapping on behalf of the court against Ghaffar under Section 364 of the penal code.

In addition to the kidnapping charge, Judge Khizer Hayat Ghondal of the Lahore Family Court issued a warrant ordering local police officials to produce the two children before his court within a week.

For the children’s Christian mother, Maria Samar John, it was the second traumatic kidnapping in her life.
Seven years ago, as a teenager of 17, she had been abducted and held prisoner for five months until her Muslim captors literally sold her to Ghaffar about a lac of Rupees.

When she was forcibly married to Ghaffar, her name was changed to Kalsoom and she was forced to thumbprint a certificate of so–called “conversion” to Islam. For the next two and one–half years, she was a virtual slave in Ghaffar’s home in Gujranwala, locked in the house and beaten by both her husband and mother–in–law for refusing to say the Muslim prayers.

She had borne a son and was pregnant for the second time when she found a mislaid housekey and managed to flee her captors to return home. Soon afterwards, her husband sent men to recapture her. At the same time, her own father and brothers refused to shelter her and the baby, declaring she had shamed their family and was now a Muslim.

So in December 2000, the Lahore–based Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Shelter (CLAAS) provided lodging for Maria and her children in a safe–house location. Christian lawyers affiliated with CLAAS successfully won her lawsuit for a legal divorce from her forced marriage in February 2003.

Meanwhile, Ghaffar filed a counter suit to gain custody of his two children, insisting they were Muslims who must not be raised as Christians. Named Hassan Ali and Fatma by their father, the children have been re–named Joshua and Miriam by their mother.

Earlier this year, the Lahore Family Court granted visitation rights to Ghaffar for the duration of the custody case, permitting him two–hour private meetings with his children within the court premises twice per month.

“The procedure was that we handed the children over to the court on the fixed date, and then the court gave the children to the father,” CLAAS lawyer Tahir Gul disclosed. “So the children were not in our custody when their father kidnapped them. Now it’s the court’s duty and responsibility to give back the children.”
After Gul and court officials realized that Ghaffar had escaped with the children, the father’s lawyer marched into court and filed a complaint against Gul.

The complainant claimed that Maria’s lawyer had made threats against his client, saying he would attack and kill him.

“Ghaffar is trying to make a case for himself,” Gul said, “saying that he was afraid of me and that’s why he did not return the children to the court. He is just making a drama out of it, by making up this story.”

From an influential family in Gujranwala, Ghaffar is known to be affiliated with the now banned Sipah–e–Sabaha Party, an extreme Islamist group notorious for its violent attacks against Pakistan’s minority Christian community.

“I feel very hated by this man,” Maria said tearfully, “and that always makes me sad.” Her biggest fear, she admitted, was the uncertainty of the future for little Joshua and Miriam.

“Joshua has very strong faith,” his mother smiled, recalling a recent night when he woke up terrified from a bad dream and asked her to take him straight to the matron of the safehouse. “Auntie will pray for me, and then I will be fine,” he told his mother.

“I am always praying for my children to have faith in God,” Maria continued. “Even though I am not very educated, I am studying now, and also learning some stitching skills.”

“I believe God rescued me, and He has provided everything for me,” Maria declared. “He has something good for us, I know.”