Success story: Iranian lady returns home along with custody of minor son

Karachi (HRNW)-  With the efforts of noted Human Rights Attorney of the country and President of Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) Zia Ahmed Awan, an Iranian lady retuned home along with the custody of her six-years son, depicting yet another success story of reuniting families.

Zia Awan in this regard said that recently a family case of an Iranian lady was referred to him by the Embassy of Pakistan and Tehran, who wanted custody of her minor son from her Pakistani husband. About the background of the case he said his client, an Iranian lady, had married a Pakistani man in the UEA and they had a son from this marriage. He said later due to some sad circumstances the lady had to leave to Iran while her son remained in custody of his father. He said on the request of the Pakistani Embassy he took this case. The lady came to Pakistan filed a constitutional petition though him in the Sindh High Court (SHC) and finally got recovered the minor boy. He said however, soon the couple realized that there were avenues of reconciliation and they settled the matter amicably. He said now the minor boy has also already left for Iran along with her mother and his father would soon join them.

He said the role of police in this case was very positive and the Frere Police, including SHO Agha, DPO Fahmida and Sub-Inspector Rasheed Niazi rejected all sorts of pressure and worked professionally.

Zia Awan further said the ratio of family cases is on a sharp rise, and a pre-trial counselling of the litigant couples is a must to save a lot of families from going separated. He said the media often highlights the negative things, while it is better to focus of positive aspects and spread positive vibes. He said that mediation and counselling of families and couples should be the first step to resolve family matters..

Zia Ahmed Awan said in our family courts most of the disputes like divorce, maintenance and custody of children are based originally on ego issues of the couples and their families. He said unfortunately, when a dispute is created between couples their family members generally separate them and cut communication channels between them. He said when the couples have no contact between them then they cannot get the issue resolved even if they realize that their egos were behind their disputes. He said in our courts the process of pre-trial mediation is almost practically negligible.

He said on the base of his decade long experience, he has always demanded to bring more positive amendments in our family laws. He said the family courts should send the cases about family dispute first for mediation before their trial. He said now even our laws permits such mediation. He said the laws in Pakistan are progressive and not outdated and they do not need major amendments but rather minor ones. He said all stakeholders of our society should play their due role in ensuring less burden on family courts with efforts to resolve most of the cases through mediation.