KARACHI: A man stated to be the father of the child reportedly found wandering at Do Darya near Seaview beach visited the Edhi Centre on Sunday to take him along but the boy did not recognise him.

Chaudhry Iqbal and his son Ansar Chaudhry arrived at the Edhi Centre in the presence of media persons and tried to show his affection for four-year-old Abdullah, but the boy did not respond to his sentiments positively and instead started crying.

Abdullah was brought to the Edhi Centre by Rizwan Ayaz Khan last week saying he was found on the beach. Later on, the boy’s mother, Haleema, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in her flat in Delhi Colony. Since then, Rizwan, considered a prime suspect in the case, has been missing.

Replying to a volley of questions, Chaudhry Iqbal told the media that he had married Haleema in Qayyumabad. He claimed that he used to send Rs30,000 to Rs40,000 to his wife every month for their sustenance.

Asked why he had not met his wife for the last six months and even did not attend their son’s birthday, Chaudhry Iqbal said he had “some suspicions over her character”, therefore, he had abandoned her. He said he did not know Rizwan, who had been nominated with his wife, Sonia, in the murder case of Haleema. Sonia has been arrested and is in police custody on remand.

He said he would fulfil all legal requirements to seek custody of his son.

Earlier, Ansar, Iqbal’s son from his first wife, told the media that his father could not come to Karachi for a long time because he was ill and under treatment.

Ansar said his father had secretly married Haleema and their family was not aware of that. He said they came to know about the incident through the media. He pointed out that he had recorded a statement before the Frere police on Saturday and would fully cooperate with the investigators to unearth the killers of his stepmother.

Asked about a documentary proof of the marriage, Ansar said all documents were in Haleema’s custody. He disclosed that his stepmother had once approached him saying that since his father was ill, she wanted to get divorce and intended to go to Mansehra to live with her parents.

On this occasion, Bilqees Edhi said the boy’s maternal grandmother and maternal aunt had approached them for the boy’s custody. She said the boy’s maternal uncle had told them not to give custody of the boy to his father, Chaudhry Iqbal, as he might harm him.

Saad Edhi, a grandson of Abdul Sattar Edhi, told the media that the boy had met his maternal grandmother over a year ago. He said the boy did not recognise his grandmother and now he also did not recognise his father too. He said they would give the child’s custody through court to the father or the grandmother.

Saad Edhi said a copy of Chaudhry Iqbal’s CNIC was found in Haleema’s bag. Besides, he said, a copy of their wedding movie was available with Haleema’s brother.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2016