Production of two sons of Canadian woman ordered

LAHORE : Guardian Court Judge Mian Usnman Tariq on Saturday issued warrants for the production of two sons of Finnish -origin Canadian mother, Mirjam Aberras Lahdeaho, from the custody of their father Punjab Highway Patrolling DIG, Ghulam Mahmood Dogar, after he failed to present the children in compliance with court’s earlier order.

Ms Lahdeaho through her counsel pleaded that her husband had illegally detained Qasim Dogar, 17, and Asim Dogar, 15, and did not allow her to see them. The petitioner said she had married the respondent on March 6, 1997, in Lahore and stayed in Pakistan for more than 12 years along with three children before moving to Canada as permanent residents in 2009. Zahra Dogar, 19, is their third child.

However, the respondent used to visit his family in Canada frequently instead of a permanent stay due to his job in Pakistan. She pointed out that her sons had visited the Pakistan to see their father for one week but later he declined to send them back to Canada. The woman said she had been deprived of lawful custody of her children and asked the court to get the children recovered and deal with the matter of their custody in accordance with law. She said she had spent 31 years with him and was still his legal wife.

Earlier, a two member bench of the Supreme Court had also directed the DIG to hand over the children to the mother and directed her to approach guardian court for enforcement of the order. After hearing the parties at length, the guardian judge issued warrants under Section 100 of the Criminal Procedure Code and sought production of the children by February 7.