ISLAMABAD – Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday ordered a meeting between a Lithuanian mother and her three daughters, who were allegedly in illegal custody of their Pakistani father.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Ejazul Ahsan and Justice Umar Atta Bandiyal issued the directives while hearing a petition filed by Maimouna Liskauskaite, a Lithuanian national who is visiting Pakistan to meet her daughters Ayesha, Maryam, and Amna.
During court proceedings, the CJP inquired the children if they had met their mother, to which the 13-year-old Maryam replied that she did not know Maimouna.
When the bench directed court officials to arrange a meeting between the children and their mother, Maryam said she would meet Maimouna in presence of her father, riling the top judge.
“This is your upbringing? You have poisoned their minds” inquired Justice Nisar from the father Jamshed Siddiqui.
On the other hand, Siddiqui replied that the mother herself did not want to visit Pakistan.
Ordering a meeting between the children and their mother, Justice Nisar also directed court officials to provide refreshments for the family which was reuniting after 7 years.
The top court remarked that they had no sympathies for a man who had run away with his children, now aged 13, 11 and nine.
“A mother could not see her children for seven years. Why should we not lodge an FIR against the man,” remarked CJP.
Justice Nisar observed that the father had not even made efforts for arranging video call between the daughters and their mother.
The Supreme Court had taken notice of the Lithuanian woman’s plea on March 31 after a petition was filed through her counsel Chaudhry Faisal Hussain in the chamber of the chief justice. The CJP on Friday directed the office to register the case and fix it before him and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan.
Afterwards, the CJP and Justice Khan heard the case and issued notices to the respondents. The court also ordered the Gujranwala DPO to present the minors before the court today (Monday).
According to the petition, Liskauskaite converted to Islam on January 7, 2004, of her own free will and contracted marriage with Siddique which was solemnised in Lithuania, Express Tribune reported.
The couple had three daughters – Ayesha, Maryam and Amna – and on December 19, 2010, the petitioner, her husband and minor daughters settled in Dubai, however, on April 4, 2011, Siddique silently moved to Pakistan along with the children and left the woman alone in Dubai following which he sent her divorce papers on April 7, 2011.
“Jamshid Siddique forcibly removed the minors from her lawful custody and that according to law, she was entitled to custody of her minor daughters,” the petition stated.
