Man held for harassing first wife, marrying woman from Pakistan

Our Correspondent

Abohar, August 14

The Hanumangarh police have arrested Rehman (35) of Pithisar village in Churu, who was accused of harassing his wife Farida Bano (29) in Bhadra for dowry and marrying a Pakistani woman, his social media friend Mehwish, after giving ‘triple talaq’ to Farida.

Hanumangarh DSP Ranveer Sai said Rehman’s first wife, Farida Bano, had filed a case of dowry, harassment, and ‘triple talaq’ against him and the in-law’s at the Bhadra police station on July 27. He said the suspect was working in Kuwait, and the police had issued a lookout notice against Rehman in the case. The DSP said Rehman was arrested from the Jaipur airport as soon as he returned to India from Kuwait.

The DSP said Rehman has been arrested in the dowry harassment and ‘triple talaq’ case, and he was also being interrogated regarding his marriage with a Pakistani woman, Mehwish. He said the woman claimed to be Rehman’s wife, and she lived in his house in Pithisar, Rajasthan.

The video of a Pakistani woman coming to the suspect’s house has been going viral on social media. It has been learnt Mehwish left Islamabad on July 25 evening with her family and was given goodbye at Wagah Border the next day by the latter. She was brought to Pithisar by relatives of Rehman from Atari. After this, Farida Bano, along with her father, reached the police station and registered a case.

Farida said she got married to Rehman on March 17, 2011. She said in her in-law’s house, her mother-in-law, father-in-law, and husband would taunt her for the amount she bought as dowry, and they would harass her, expressing displeasure over not being able to give Rs 1 lakh in cash and a motorcycle as dowry. She said her husband Rehman, brother-in-law Salim Khan, sister-in-law Zubeida, mother-in-law Zaitun, and father-in-law Ali Mohammad used to beat her, demanding money and a bike. Sometime after marriage, Rehman went to Kuwait. Farida alleged that about four-five months ago, Rehman called her and asked her for divorce. After this, he said that he had divorced her and married Mehwish; she would reach India soon.

The victim said she has a five-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son, and she would fight for their rights.

The Bhadra police registered a case and started investigation; however, when no action was taken, Farida met SP Vikas Sangwan at Hanumangarh and requested immediate investigation and action. DSP Ranveer Sai was then asked to investigate.

In an interview on social media, Mehwish said she hails from Lahore, the cultural capital of Pakistan, and was employed at a beauty parlour. She said she lost her mother when she was two years old, and her father, Zulfiqar, passed away about 15 years ago. She said twelve years ago, she moved to Islamabad to join her sister, Sahima, where she underwent a two-month beauty parlour training. She has been working in a beauty parlour for the last decade.

In 2006, she married a man from Badami Bagh in Lahore, with whom she has two sons, now aged 12 and seven. She said her first husband abandoned her to marry another woman and they divorced in 2018.