Daily Times

Every family is a building block of society, and every child is the hope of the nation.

I persistently write about the relationship between parents and their children as I feel the heart-piercing reality should never be overlooked, especially when it is plaguing society.

My heart is now burdened with the pathetic situation caused by parent’s negligence, particularly that by the fathers towards their children. One of my clients approached me for divorce, seven years earlier.

I filed the suit and after the due procedure, I handed her the divorce order from the court and the divorce certificate from union council.

Our timely relationship was over.

During one of the several meetings for counselling, I wanted to know the reason for divorce. She told me her husband had left her five years ago with three children; settled abroad and never gave her any penny.

During his long absence, her brother-in-law tried several times to lead her astray by showing money and promises of maintenance of her children. Undoubtedly, she was a strong woman who was bearing the burden of three children, without any support from all sides. However, what will this strength do if her children sleep with an empty stomach and tearful eyes at night and walk barefooted all day long? The turning point came when the youngest son asked her mother, “Can we eat the meat of a cat?”

This made her cry with all her heart. It was then she decided to relocate her family to a place where she could earn her livelihood.

Somehow, she settled beside her mother’s house and started doing the practice of childbirth in a clinic with her mother. Time went on. It was not easy to bear the rent of a house, school fees and a livelihood. Moreover, she could be called for duty at any time, may it be noon or midnight. We met again just two months earlier. She was sitting beside me, telling me an unfortunate runaway story of her daughter who was then sixteen years old. She had her questions and answers. Hundreds of confusing thoughts crushed her mind. We launched FIR in no time, pursued the girl and found her in 24 hours. She came to see me again with her daughter. They seemed like deserted birds struggling for survival.

My heart is now burdened with the pathetic situation caused by parent’s negligence, particularly that by the fathers towards their children. One of my clients approached me for divorce, seven years earlier

The FIR was launched under section 154 of Criminal Procedure Code, and section 365-B of Pakistan Penal Code was applied, which described kidnapping, abduction or inducing woman to compel for marriage, etc.

It said that whoever kidnapped or abducted woman intentionally so that she might be compelled to marry any person against her will. Offence U/S 365-B required two essential elements: removal of a woman by force from one place to another place or through inducement by deceitful means and the object of removal must be to compel her to marry any person against her will or that she could be forced or seduced to illicit intercourse. The accused would be punished with imprisonment for life with a fine. The same happened to her. The girl was deceived by a 25-year-old with the promise of marriage and her real aunt was involved. Knitting a plan, she was a bridge between the girl (victim) and the accused. The mother asked her daughter to not disclose her aunt’s name before the judge or for interrogation before the place. Initially, the mother decided to teach everyone who played their role in deceiving her daughter a lesson.

Later on, she forgave everyone and decided to go home with her daughter. That was because she knew very well that things done could never be undone at any cost but she should take many wise decisions and wait until the dust settles down. She wanted to get her daughter married to a reasonable person, who must be stranger to this misfortune. Yet, rumours spread like wildfire in the town, and a never-ending process of interrogation started from all sides like neighbours, relatives, friends, acquaintances and strangers. Most of such cases end up in a social compromise between parties. In many circumstances, there is no way out except to forgive and just go away; rather go far away. One has to be burnt in his hell. The society is the graveyard of concealed and revealed stories of victims and accused.

One thing I strongly believe is that flood finds the cracks in the walls and the concrete building collapses to rubble.

Knowingly or unknowingly, we leave such cracks in the walls of our family system through which contagious diseases attack and poison the last cell.

The negligence towards children, the gap of communication and inducing superiority or inferiority complexes into children erase spirit, confidence, prudence and positivity from children. They behave awkwardly in society and lose the capacity to identify friends and foes.

Every family is a building block of society, and every child is the hope of the nation. Realise your responsibilities, put your soul into your family and save your image from getting blurred in the minds of the children. Otherwise, society would breed runaway stories every day. The deepest connections would be rendered meaningless and soul relationship would be odourless. Every family is a building block of society, and every child is the hope of the nation. Whenever the society would see its reflection into the mirror, it would be a horrifying, heinous and loathsome sight.

The writer is a practising lawyer in the Islamabad High Court