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3 wives seeking khula

By Uroos Ahmed

KARACHI: A man’s third wife has filed a suit against him for marrying thrice without the consent of each woman, as is legally required in Islam. His first two wives live in Sahiwal. On Monday, the defendant’s father was cross examined by the plaintiff’s attorney.

“According to Islamic law, a man is allowed four wives only with the consent of the first wife,” explained advocate Sami, who is representing the third wife who is filing for the dissolution of the marriage in the Karachi city courts. “As many times as he marries, he must acquire permission from his first wife, although in this case the first wife or any of the other two wives had no idea about his other two marriages.”

The defendant is currently residing in Germany. According to advocate Sami, he is not a very well educated man and had told his wives that he was employed as a labourer with a local company. “My client was promised that she would be taken to Germany as soon as the visa came through once they were married,” he said. “But he left after 15 days of the wedding and came back after a month. It has been ten months to the wedding and he hasn’t taken my client with him to Germany.” Sami also said that his client assumes that her husband must have married a woman in Germany as well as he regularly travels back and forth between Pakistan and Germany, which she believes would not be financially possible for a labourer.

The defendant is also under suit for fraud in the Sahiwal courts by his first and second wives along with petitions for khula and the recovery of dowry articles.