Abdullah’s grandmother, uncle approach court for his custody

Request court to not hand over child to Chaudhry Iqbal

Karachi  

The maternal grandmother and an uncle of Abdullah, a four-year-old boy living at the Edhi Centre, on Thursday filed a plea in the court concerned to get the custody of the child.

In their petition, they submitted that they could take care of Abdullah, son of deceased Haleema, better than Chaudhry Iqbal, who claims to be father of the abandoned child.

Following the order of a family court which allowed Iqbal to meet the child, the man has been meeting with Abdullah in the court premises.

Now, the maternal grandmother and maternal uncle of Abdullah have approached the court and requested for not giving Abdullah’s custody to the man who claims to be his father.

The applicants argued that Iqbal was in no position to properly take care of Abdullah and they, on the other hand, were more deserving to be permitted to take the custody of Abdullah.

On the orders of a family Court, Abdullah, a four-year-old boy living at the Edhi Centre, again met with Chaudhry Iqbal, the man who claims to be his father, inside court premises on Saturday.

Earlier on July 2, Iqbal brought sweets, toys and other gifts for Abdullah. Unlike in their last meeting, this time the child had showed interest in the gifts.

Some relatives of Iqbal were also present in the court and Abdullah met with them too.

The court later fixed July 16 as the next date of meeting. The court will hear the matter of handing over the custody of Abdullah to Iqbal on July 14.

The attorney for Iqbal Chaudhry said Abdullah’s birth certificate and the marriage certificate of his client and Haleema, who was found dead in Delhi Colony on May 31, had been sent to the authorities concerned for confirmation.

He expressed hope that the meetings being held on court orders would help Abdullah become acquainted with his father.

Four-year-old Abdullah’s mother Haleema was murdered allegedly by a man named Rizwan Ayaz Khan who dropped the boy at the Edhi Centre. Khan was later arrested by police. Later, Iqbal appeared before a court and requested custody of Abdullah claiming that he was his father.

The court had earlier allowed him to meet the boy on July 2.

The court observed that Abdullah had not recognised Chaudhry and it was important that he met with the boy for a couple of hours.

Iqbal, who was keen to see his son, brought him toys and other gifts in their first meeting in court premises but Abdullah did not pay attention to them.

On witnessing this, the court permitted to Iqbal to spend some more time with Abdullah in a separate room.

The key suspect, Khan, has retracted the statement he had given during interrogation and told a court that police had forced him to confess.

He also said Haleema might have been killed by her stepson, Ansar.  Khan has been sent to prison on judicial remand. A new investigation officer has been assigned the case and he has sought the suspect’s remand so that he could conduct a fresh interrogation. The court concerned has yet not taken any decision to this effect.

Khan had told the court that he wanted to hang himself from the ceiling fan but was restrained by police from doing so. Khan said the police had threatened to harass his wife and daughter if he did not confess.