A Polish woman has approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking custody of her daughter from her Pakistani husband, ARY News reported on Saturday.
In her petition, Anna Monika Wajsk alleged that her husband, Adeel Khan, a resident of Sindh, brought their daughter, a Polish national, to Pakistan in 2022 without her consent and under deceptive circumstances.
During the hearing, the IHC directed the interior secretary to constitute a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to locate the child and her father. The JIT will collaborate with the Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the home department to trace their whereabouts.
The court further instructed the JIT to gather information about Adeel Khan’s family tree from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to aid in the investigation.
Additionally, the IHC ordered that the names of Adeel Khan and his daughter be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) and the blacklist to prevent them from leaving the country.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) informed the court that Adeel Khan was last recorded arriving at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on December 18, 2024, indicating that he remains within Pakistan.
The hearing was adjourned until January 21.
In a related case in 2022, the IHC granted custody of two children to their Polish mothers after a legal battle with their Pakistani father. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani presided over the case, which involved two Polish women married to Saleem Muhammad, a resident of Sialkot.
The court ordered Saleem Muhammad to return the children to their mothers after reviewing arguments on both sides. The father had claimed that he brought the children to Pakistan with their mothers’ consent. However, he also cited conflicts arising from religious differences, stating that his ex-wives would take the children to church, which strained their relationship.