What happened: On Aug 14, Lahore-based author Laaleen Sukhera called out her ex-husband, Zarrar Khan for keeping their 3 daughters with them, against their will, when he was only supposed to have visitation rights, “Zarar Khan is a sadist & restrains my 3 girls. We are traumatized by trips to courts & police for 6 yrs.”
Details: It’s been 6 months since Laaleen met her daughters. Zarar Khan runs the Froebel’s Network school in Islamabad, Pakistan and enrolled the girls in his institution when Laaleen got Covid. In May, Laaleen filed a petition to see her children in Lahore. Two months later, she re-filed again in Islamabad as her lawyer appeared to plead her case in guardian court. The author shared that every time Zarar Khan would get visitation rights, he’d keep the daughters with him, leading Laaleen to go to court and police station again & again. Froebels school also refused to give Laaleen her daughters’ report cards when she went to collect them and she had to file a complaint with PEIRA as well. Back story: Laaleen shared that her ex-husband remarried and has a son now but still keeps torturing her and her daughters mentally. Speaking with Propergaanda, Laleen recalled that she got separated from her husband 6 years ago but it took 2 and half years for the divorce to come through, “He bribed the maulvi to say I had no right of divorce despite 600 witnesses at the wedding. In the end, I had to get a khula.” It was tough for Laaleen to get maintenance for her children which again required her to go to court again and again because Zarar Khan insisted he wouldn’t pay for child support. Laaleen had to move: It should be noted that Laaleen is from Lahore while Zarar Khan lived in Islamabad, “So when he got the girls enrolled in his school without consulting with me, I decided I’d go along with it. I drew up an agreement and he refused to sign it. He kept the kids and refused to give them back to me.” Why it matters: On the behalf of single mothers in Pakistan, Laaleen stated that men get away so much; they get away with abusing you, torturing you, harassing you, they just get away with everything, “They make your life miserable, I know not a lot of men are like this but the narcissists, who are sadistic in nature, abuse their wives and try to make you miserable throughout,” adding how it’s even worst when they use kids as pawns to torture you.