The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday handed over custody of two children to their Polish mothers in a petition regarding the custody dispute of the kids.
The court also and directed their Pakistani father to surrender the passports of the minors to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani resumed hearing on the petitions filed by the Polish women, Isa Nowa, and Johana Mohammad, seeking custody of their children from their Pakistani father Saleem Mohammad. The officials from the Polish embassy also appeared before the court.
Saleem Mohammad had a son named Mohammad Ahmed with his wife Isa and a daughter, Sadia, with another wife Johana Mohammad.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that his client was a Muslim and he had two children from his two Christian wives.
The children’s father told the court that he brought the children to Pakistan in August 2021 with the consent of their mothers, adding that his relationship with his wives was affected due to religion as they used to take his kids to church.
On the occasion, Justice Kayani interviewed the children inside his chamber.
The father said that he could rescind the foreign nationality for the sake of his children.
When Justice Kayani suggested that the petitioner could educate his children in Poland but Mohammad told the court that it would not be easy as the mosque was at a distance of about 300km from his home in Poland.
Both women refused to talk to the Pakistani husband at the court. The counsel for the Polish women said in the court that Saleem Mohammad had brought his son and daughter to Pakistan from Poland on a two-week visit but did not take the children back to Poland on the pretext of travel restrictions due to the pandemic.
The court has temporarily handed over the custody of the children to their mothers and would decide the matter after hearing further arguments.