Husband’s abuse and threats, and oppressive marriage law victimise Arti, a Christian woman
The husband abandoned his 28-year-old wife and three children for another woman. After converting to Islam, he remarried. Now he wants both families to embrace the same faith, so he is putting pressure on his first wife. Christian activist denounces the lack of rules to protect the wife, who cannot divorce.
Sheikhupura (AsiaNews) – A 28-year-old Christian woman, Arti Waris, a resident of Bhall, a village near Sheikhupura (Punjab), has been under severe pressure to convert to Islam. The harassment comes from within her family and is becoming increasingly aggressive.
Arti wed Waqar on 25 September 2016 and the two had three children (Emmanuel aged 8, Samuel aged 4, and Hizqiel aged 2), but the husband left her and married another Christian woman on 19 November 2023.
Since Christian personal law in Pakistan does not provide for polygamy, the new couple converted to Islam to marry.
To maintain a link with his first family, Waqar has been trying to force his first wife to convert to Islam. His second wife, 32-year-old Rimsha, was also married and is the mother of three daughters.
With the conversion of his first wife, and multiple marriages, Waqar would ensure control of his children by imposing his own rules on their education and upbringing.
However, Arti Waris staved off her husband's pressure, despite the economic hardship in raising children. She earns only 8,50 rupees (US$ 30) from the NGO Hope for Light teaching illiterate adults and Sunday school.
Because of her husband’s action, Arti now lives with her poor and elderly parents, who pay for the children’s food, while the money she earns from Sunday school pays for the children's education.
“Waqar visited my school many times and threatened me to go with him,” said Arti, speaking to AsiaNews. “He often abused me in an attempt to force me to embrace Islam,” refusing to pay for the children unless she converted.
“A month ago, he visited my school and threatened me on gun point to leave my parents’ house but I refused to do so. I did not file any application in the court against him because we can hardly meet both ends and cannot afford the expenses of the lawyer and court.”
Even if she did go to court, her chances to win are slim since her husband is now a Muslim, which puts him in a position of strength compared to his wife, who is still Christian.
“I just want to get rid of him, and want divorce from the court so that he could not threaten us. My children are my life and I am trying my best to educate them, I am also teaching them about Christian faith and values.”
Ata-your-Rehman Saman, activist and coordinator of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, notes that polygamy is “prohibited by Christian personal laws in Pakistan. However, Islamic law allows a man to have up to four wives simultaneously.”
For this reason, “Christian men and women, eager for a second marriage, convert to Islam to take advantage of this. By adopting Islam, they can legally contract a second marriage.”
By contrast, “Christian personal laws in Pakistan impose stringent conditions on divorce, making it challenging for individuals to dissolve marriages, even in cases of abuse or irreconcilable differences. Hence, some Christians opt to convert to Islam, which offers more lenient divorce provisions.”
The Christian activist admits that, “The main congregations of the Church in Pakistan have failed to develop a consensus on the divorce of Christian spouses. In Arti’s case, the court will not register the divorce due to the existing Christian Divorce Act.”
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28/12/2018 10:34
