This Article is From Oct 12, 2011

'My husband made our child lick his boots'

New Delhi: An Indian woman, married to a Jordanian national, has been given the custody of their 15-year-old son by a Delhi court after she alleged that her husband was a tyrant, even forcing their child to lick his shoes whenever the teenager stepped on them.

Guardian Judge Gautam Manan entrusted the boy's custody to his mother after she alleged abuse and exploitation by her Jordanian husband at Amman, where she had gone to live with him after completing her PhD at Delhi University.

"I have no reason to disbelieve the petitioner's testimony. It has come on record that the minor is in the 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 the minor and this shows he is not interested to contest the claim of the petitioner," the court said, entrusting the boy's custody to his mother.

"The petitioner being the natural mother is declared his (minor's) guardian," it added.

Narrating her tales of woes, South Delhi resident Dr Madhulika Verma (name changed) told the court that she was married to Jordanian national Atif M Jalbneh in 1995. She said she knew him since 1988 when he had come to Delhi for his studies.

She said she had converted to Islam before marriage and went to Jordan along with her husband, but returned here in January 1996 as her husband had to complete his PhD.
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