After conversion to Islam, ‘My husband made our child lick his boots’

Jordanian’s Indian wife gets custody of their son
Daily Pioneer – New Delhi

A city court granted custody of a 15-year old boy to his Indian mother married to a Jordanian man after she accused her husband of creating domestic nuisance by forcing their child to lick his shoes every time the boy accidentally stepped on them. Guardian Judge Gautam Manan gave custody of the boy to Dr Suhasini Sinha (name changed) after Suhasini alleged her husband of abuse, exploitation and practicing tyrannical authority after she had moved to Jordanian capital Amman following the completion of her PhD from Delhi University.

While entrusting the boy’s custody to his mother, the court said, “I have no reason to disbelieve the petitioner’s testimony. It has come on record that the minor is in company of her mother since his birth. The child is getting good education and has grown up well. The respondent (Jordanian) has not appeared in order to claim the custody of minor and this shows he is not interested to contest the claim of the petitioner. The petitioner being the natural mother is declared his (minor’s) guardian.”

South Delhi resident Sinha told the court that she was married to Jordanian national Atif M Jalbneh in 1995. Sinha said she knew him since 1988 when he had come to Delhi for his studies. Sinha said she had converted to Islam before marriage and went to Jordan along with her husband, but returned to Delhi in January 1996 as her husband had to complete his PhD.

The woman said she gave birth to her son here during their stay in Delhi after which her husband went back to Jordan in October 1996, asking her to join him later with sufficient money to set up house at Amman. She said she arranged $2000 and went to Jordan with her minor son in December 1996, but was subjected to severe physical and mental torture for not bringing enough money. Narrating her tale of woes, Sinha said her husband adopted a tyrannical attitude against her and her child, forcing him to clean his shoes by licking it whenever he stepped onto them. She said he even made her eat camel meat against her will.

The woman said she subsequently came back to India in 1999 to pursue her PhD and went back to Jordan in March 2005 with all her jewellery and valuables to find a job there expecting that her marriage would eventually work out and her husband will have no complaints against her due to her earnings.

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