Ravindranath Shanbhag, president of Human Rights Protection Foundation (HRPF), said on Tuesday that the Karkala Principal and JMFC Court has ordered the Passport Office to restrain Sameer of Tirthahalli, Shivamogga district, to prevent him fleeing abroad after he refused to maintain his wife and child having subjected them to domestic violence and abuse.
Addressing presspersons here, Dr. Shanbhag said that the court had ordered the accused to appear before it on April 21, 2018. When he failed to do so, he was ordered to produce his passport before the court. Since there was every possibility of Sameer escaping from the country, the court passed the orders. Giving details of the case, Dr. Shanbhag said Ayesha Naaz (name changed) despite being from an orthodox Muslim family of Udupi district, completed her graduation with the support of her parents. In 2011, she got married to Sameer, son of Abdul Samad of Tirthahalli, with mutual understanding of both the families. Her father, who believed that Sameer was a B.Sc graduate with a high earning job in Dubai, had to take a loan to put together ₹ 12 lakh for marriage expenses.
It took a couple of months to obtain a Visa for Ayesha to join her husband in Dubai, during which period she stayed with her in-laws. But they nagged and verbally abused her and her family, he said. Ayesha tolerated everything as she wished to join her husband. Meanwhile, she found out that Sameer was now a B.Sc. graduate. She then joined her husband in Dubai. But to her dismay, she found that her new life with her husband was miserable and that he was peculiar. He always kept to himself and never spoke to her. He used to beat her up. Ayesha was scared to share this with her parents, he said.
Soon she got pregnant. Her husband continued to ill treat her. The baby was delivered in February 2013. Neither her husband nor her in-laws enquired after her or her baby. Ayesha returned to Dubai with her four-month-old child. She had hoped that her husband’s behaviour would change after seeing the child. But she was wrong. He continued to harass and beat her. He even threw the baby down once.
Her in-laws made it clear that she should bear with her husband as he was a man. Initially, when she shared her misery with her parents, they did not pay heed to it. Later, they became convinced of Sameer’s violent nature and called her back home.
In March 2017, Ayesha returned to her parents’ home.
On March 25, 2017, with the help of Women and Child Department, she called her in-laws and urged them to save her family. But neither her husband nor her in-laws came for conciliation. By then, her health had deteriorated and even her child had fallen sick and had to be admitted to hospital.
Ayesha then approached HRPF, which helped her. She prayed before the court for her and her child’s maintenance. The court summoned Sameer several times, but he did not appear. Therefore, the court passed an ex parte order, ordering him to pay ₹ 5,000 per month.
On the directions of Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis, the Women and Child Welfare Officer filed a case of domestic violence against Sameer. The court had ordered Sameer not to leave the country during the pendency of the case, Dr. Shanbhag said.
