Take the case of Yashmin Kiyamuddin Ansari (29) an Indian national from Mumbai, India. After three years of brutal domestic violence and torture at the hands of her Bahrain-based, Pakistani husband Tariq Ahmed, she and her 2 year and 4-month old daughter. Malak, have finally been reunited with her parents, a brother and five sisters.
PRAVASISAMWAD.COM
Mumbai: People will usually tell you it’s never a good thing to generalise an instance of wrongdoing, to project a biased and negative image of an entire community. Or for that matter, even of an entire country, perhaps.
But in all fairness, it must be said that men in a neighbouring South Asian country tend to have a decidedly medieval approach when it comes to dealing with women, spouses in particular. They stop at nothing to subdue their wives with the worst forms of violence, torture and abuse.
Take the case of Yashmin Kiyamuddin Ansari an Indian national from Mumbai, India. After three years of brutal domestic violence and torture at the hands of her Bahrain-based, Pakistani husband Tariq Ahmed, she and her 2 year and 4-month old daughter have finally been reunited with her parents, a brother and five sisters, Hindustan Times reported.
The family lives in a ‘chawl’, the Indian equivalent of a ramshackle, shanty-town or slum, at Andheri, Mumbai. Etihad Airlines flight EY294 gave a fairy-tale, heart-touching ending to a mother and child’s three-year ordeal when it landed in Mumbai on Thursday, May 25.
But all credit for a stupendous effort to rescue an impoverished Indian woman and her infant child must go to Sudheer Thirulinath, CEO of an NGO, Pavasi Legal Cell (Bahrain branch), Indian ambassador in Bahrain Piyush Srivastava, Bahraini Attorney Tariq Alowin, as well as Immigration officials of Bahrain, including Naef Al Sherooqi, Adhil Mohd Amadi, Captain Yousef Jamal, and their dedicated officers, who played a crucial role in resolving the matter.
Taking a humanitarian view of Yashmin’s financial condition, Bahrain-based Devji Group sponsored the air tickets for Etihad Airways for Yashmin and her child.
According to Thirunilath, he received Yashmin’s request for help In May 2022, for assistance.
“Yashmin and her daughter Malak were not having proper shelter, no food, no money to pay rent etc. We took up the matter and brought it to the notice of Indian ambassador to Bahrain, Piyush Srivastava, and we also filed a case at Madad, Ministry of External Affairs’ management system, which provides consular services,” he said.
Thirunilath also approached advocate Tariq Alowin and requested him to file a case in Bahrain. “This journey has been challenging, as we filed three cases after receiving the Power of Attorney through Adv Tariq. We pursued two cases for DNA testing and the issuance of a birth certificate, both of which were unfortunately rejected.
“Additionally, we filed a case for the amendment of the marriage date, which the Court agreed to after reviewing the details and witness testimonies. However, due to the absence of parents during the marriage and non-payment of Mehr, the Court ultimately rejected our request,” said Tirunilath.
“Yashmin and her daughter Malak were not having proper shelter, no food, no money to pay rent etc. We took up the matter and brought it to the notice of Indian ambassador to Bahrain, Piyush Srivastava, and we also filed a case at Madad, Ministry of External Affairs’ management system, which provides consular services,” he said.
Tirunilath said Yashmin arrived in Bahrain somewhere around March 2020. She got married to a Pakistani national, Khalid Akram in June 2020. From their marriage, they had a girl child, in January 2021. She faced domestic violence at home leading to her separation from her husband.
When the child was born, Yashmin could not get the birth certificates from the authorities as she was already going through the separation process and the mental trauma from the whole episode,” explained Thirunilath.
Mumbai: When Etihad Airways flight EY 204 from Manama (Bahrain) to Mumbai via Abu Dhabi landed at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Thursday night, it ended a three-year ordeal for 29-year-old Yashmin Kiyamuddin Ansari.
She moved to Bahrain to marry a Pakistani national, got divorced within months after complaining of domestic violence and could not return to Mumbai as her 28-month-old daughter Malak had no legal birth certificate.
After months of a legal battle in Bahrain by Pravasi Legal Cell, an NGO which works with Indian diplomatic missions abroad to provide legal and humanitarian assistance to stranded Indians in foreign countries, Ansari finally boarded the Etihad Airways flight on Thursday at 10.40am. After a stopover in Abu Dhabi, it arrived in Mumbai shortly after 8pm, reuniting Ansari with her parents, a brother and five sisters who live in a Kajuwadi Chawl in Andheri’s Chakala.
“Yashmin arrived in Bahrain somewhere around March 2020. She got married to a Pakistani national, Khalid Akram in June 2020. From their marriage, they had a girl child, born in January 2021. She faced domestic violence at home leading to her separation from her husband.
In May 2022, Thirunilath received Ansari’s official request for assistance. “Yashmin and her daughter Malak were not having proper shelter, no food, no money to pay rent etc. We took up the matter and raised it with the Indian ambassador to Bahrain, Piyush Srivastava and we also filed a case at Madad, Ministry of External Affairs’ management system which provides consular services,” he said.
Thirunilath also approached advocate Tariq Alowin and requested him to file a case in Bahrain. “This journey has been challenging, as we filed three cases after receiving the Power of Attorney through Adv Tariq. We pursued two cases for DNA testing and the issuance of a birth certificate, both of which were unfortunately rejected.
“Additionally, we filed a case for the amendment of the marriage date, which the Court agreed to after reviewing the details and witness testimonies. However, due to the absence of parents during the marriage and non-payment of Mehr, the Court ultimately rejected our request,” said Tirunilath.
In May 2022, Thirunilath received Ansari’s official request for assistance. “Yashmin and her daughter Malak were not having proper shelter, no food, no money to pay rent etc. We took up the matter and raised it with the Indian ambassador to Bahrain, Piyush Srivastava and we also filed a case at Madad, Ministry of External Affairs’ management system which provides consular services,” he said.
Thirunilath also approached advocate Tariq Alowin and requested him to file a case in Bahrain. “This journey has been challenging, as we filed three cases after receiving the Power of Attorney through Adv Tariq. We pursued two cases for DNA testing and the issuance of a birth certificate, both of which were unfortunately rejected. Additionally, we filed a case for the amendment of the marriage date, which the Court agreed to after reviewing the details and witness testimonies. However, due to the absence of parents during the marriage and non-payment of Mehr, the Court ultimately rejected our request,” said Tirunilath.
On May 21, 2023, Thirunilath approached the Bahrain Immigration office and explained the situation to them. They agreed to help in sending the mother and her child back to India. The PLC produced a letter from the Salmaniya Hospital about the delivery.
“The Immigration authorities, including Naef Al Sherooqi, Adhil Mohd Amadi, Captain Yousef Jamal, and their dedicated officers played a crucial role in resolving this matter. They even called her ex-husband, Khalid, to Immigration and obtained his no-objection statements,” he said.
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