Tug-of-love dad can visit Sarah
By MOHAMMED ASLAM
Published: 10th April 2008
A FILIPINA mother who last month won a four-year custody battle for her daughter was yesterday ordered to grant visitation rights to the girl’s father.Lecita Flores was reunited with her five-year-old daughter Sarah on March 30 after her ex-husband was arrested for refusing to hand her over – despite four court orders obliging him to do so.
Tug-of-love dad can visit Sarah
By MOHAMMED ASLAM
Published: 10th April 2008
A FILIPINA mother who last month won a four-year custody battle for her daughter was yesterday ordered to grant visitation rights to the girl’s father.Lecita Flores was reunited with her five-year-old daughter Sarah on March 30 after her ex-husband was arrested for refusing to hand her over – despite four court orders obliging him to do so.
However, he appealed against the custody verdict and the Sharia Court yesterday agreed he could take his daughter on weekends.
His lawyer had claimed Ms Flores had not been allowing Sarah to attend school and was not living in her apartment, but was instead staying at the Philippine Embassy’s shelter.
She admitted both allegations were true, but said she was scared that her ex-husband might try to take back his daughter by force even though he lost the court battle.
“I am going to work and I cannot leave my daughter alone in the house,”Ms Flores told the GDN.
Her ex-husband had previously broken a court order in 2005 and fled with Sarah to Qatar, where he has relatives, to avoid losing custody of the child.
He had also repeatedly ignored court orders to hand over the child.
However, the Sharia Court has now agreed to let the father have custody of his daughter every week, from 5pm on Thursdays until 4pm on Saturdays.
“We agree that custody should be with her mother, but it should be slowly so that the girl is not affected psychologically,” his lawyer Huda Rashid Al Mahza’a told the GDN yesterday.
Ms Flores has been fighting since April 2004 for the custody of Sarah and first raised a case against her ex-husband in Kuwait, where the couple met and married.
The Kuwaiti Sharia Court granted her full custody of her daughter after he fled to Bahrain with Sarah, telling Ms Flores he had divorced her and was keeping Sarah.
When she followed him to Bahrain in November 2004 she was told she had to file a case here as the Kuwaiti ruling did not apply and has been battling in the court ever since. aslam@gdn.com.bh
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