Lithuanian mother gets daughters' custody for three months
Apex court states it is an established fact that the father kidnapped his daughters from Dubai
April 18, 2018
The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the custody of three children to their Lithuanian mother for three months.
A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh was hearing a petition filed by Maimouna Liskauskaite for the custody of her three daughters.
“It is an established fact that the father kidnapped his daughters from Dubai,” the bench remarked while ordering police to register an FIR against Jamshed Siddique.
Liskauskaite had converted from Christianity to Islam and had married Pakistani citizen Siddique in Lithuania in 2004. The couple and their three children had moved to Dubai in 2010 and settled there.
Her husband had in 2011 brought their daughters to Pakistan without his wife's knowledge, divorced her and kicked her out of their house.
Liskauskaite had looked for her daughters since and recently found out where they were.
The bench, however, took back its order to register an FIR against the father of the three daughters after his counsel pleaded for mercy.
“The court should show some mercy,” Siddique’s counsel argued.
To this, the CJP responded, “Then the father should change his attitude.”
Retracting the order of the FIR and giving the custody of the three girls to their mother, Justice Nisar observed, “A guardian judge will monitor while the children stay with their mother.”
“These children have been brought to court and they are now our daughters,” Justice Saeed remarked.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned until next month.
Earlier, the apex court arranged a meeting between Liskauskaite and her three daughters.
Liskauskaite met her children for the first time in seven years last month. The top court had directed the Punjab police to bring her three daughters to Islamabad.
She had petitioned before the Lahore High Court, seeking custody of her daughters but the court had dismissed her petition on February 23, 2018. She then appealed to the Supreme Court.
The apex court had on March 30 ordered the Gujranwala district police officer to produce the three minor children of Liskauskaite, who had filed a petition for their custody.
