Boxer Amir Khan says filed divorce application from Faryal
Khan also touched upon the recent claim made by his now-former wife that she is pregnant with their second child
September 09, 2017
British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan in a video posted on social media Friday night confirmed he has filed an application for divorce from his estranged wife Faryal Makhdoom.
The news comes as the latest update to the almost-ending feud between the two, both of whom were engaged in a sparring comprising abuses and allegations back in August.
"I have filed for a divorce," Khan said in a short video uploaded to image-sharing app Snapchat, saying that the couple is neither married nor together and verifying rumours that they are headed for a split.
In addition, Khan also touched upon the recent claim made by his now-former wife that she is pregnant with their second child, stating that he was not made aware of the news and that he only learnt about it through social media.
"I hear that she’s announced that she’s pregnant. She didn’t tell me. I had to read that on social media," the boxer commented. He could not corroborate Makhdoom's statement but said that "time will tell" if it is true or not.
Nevertheless, Khan explained he will always "be there for my kids" because they are "everything to me".
"Obviously, if there’s another kid, then I’m gonna show my support and be there for Faryal."
The athlete — who has a daughter with Faryal named Lamaisah — went on to highlight that his three-year-old means "everything to me" so he will make sure he is always there for her for whatever "Lamaisah needs".
How he manages to be a good father to the two children will only be seen as time unfolds. For now, however, Khan and Makhdoom "think it is unhealthy to be together because it’s not healthy for the kids; I don’t want my child to be seeing us fighting".
The former light-welterweight champion and his spouse have been in and out of the limelight over the past few months as an exchange of comments between Makhdoom and Khan's family escalated into a well-publicised feud.
What went down?
The dispute started last year-end when Makhdoom spoke out against what she claims was "domestic abuse" at the hands of her in-laws.
That snowballed into a burgeoning exchange of rapid-fire comments between her and Khan’s family, wherein the boxer’s parents called her an evil woman, criticised her face, and likened her appearance to the late pop icon Michael Jackson.
Makhdoom repeatedly asserted her innocence, made attempts to bond with Khan’s parents earlier, and reminisces that they were fine with her dressing choice at their first-ever meeting, the icon’s parents denied all that she said and maintained that they only advised her to put on culturally-appropriate wear.
Discussing on Snapchat the emotional turmoil she is going through, Makhdoom openly talked about the "verbal and physical abuse" she suffered at the hands of Khan’s parents.
She pronounced the whole debacle to be an issue of female empowerment, and urged women "[…] to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women’s voices are […] not overlooked and ignored.”
In an interview with British newspaper Sun, Makhdoom claimed her in-laws cropped her from family photos, flung a remote control at her, and even slapped her.
However, Khan’s father denied claims of abuse. He said she embarrassed them and added to the boxer’s stress and advised his son to divorce her.
"All this started with the issue of dressing. We kept asking Amir to tell her not to adopt such a dress code. And even if she had to wear such dresses, please don’t post it on social media," the boxer's father told Geo.tv in an interview back in December, last year.
"I asked her not to wear such dresses and to take the dupatta (scarf), but she never listened. After that, we asked Amir but he told us to convey this to Faryal's mother because she does not listen to him either," she said.
Khan's mother Falak said she once asked Faryal not to wear such clothes but she did not listen.
