ISLAMABAD      -         The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday directed a Pakistani citizen to hand over his two children to their Polish mothers in a petition moved by them seeking custody of their kids. A single bench of IHC comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani conducted hearing of the petition filed by the Polish women in the matter related to the custody of the children. During the hearing, the Polish women, their Pakistani husband Muhammad Saleem, and the Polish Embassy officials appeared before the court while the bench ordered to keep the two children in the Polish Embassy and deferred the further hearing of kids’ custody case till Wednesday (today). The IHC bench directed the Pakistani citizen to hand over the children’s passports as well as his to the FIA for the process. The petitioners’ lawyer stated before the court that his client was a Muslim and he had two children from his two Christian wives. Saleem adopted the stance that he brought the children to Pakistan with the consent of their mothers. He added that that his relationship with his wives was affected due to the religion as they (wives) used to take his kids to church. He said that he had a large business chain in Poland and he used to help these two women. The children’s father further said that he was ready even to cancel his Polish citizenship for his kids. The court said that the father could nurture his children while staying in Poland. The father said that it was difficult for him to raise his children in the Islamic way as the nearest mosque was some 300 kilometers away from his house. At this, the bench remarked that if the father owned a large business in Poland, he could construct a mosque near his home. The two women on the occasion also refused to meet their husband. The court was told that the women had reached Pakistan in the morning. Saleem’s lawyer said that his client has a son, Muhammad Ahmad, from Polish woman Iza Nawa and a daughter from another Polish woman Johanna. “He had married Polish woman Johanna on October 29, 2005, and the marriage ended in a divorce on February 28, 2017. A daughter was born in 2012 from the wedlock,” the lawyer further informed the court. “He contracted Nikah with Iza Nawa because the second marriage cannot be registered in Poland. A son was born in 2015 from the wedlock,” he added. After hearing the arguments, the IHC bench directed to hand over the kids to their Polish mothers. The court said that the two children would be kept in Polish Embassy and would be produced again before the court on Wednesday (today). The court said that it had temporarily handed over the children to the mothers and would decide the matter after hearing the further arguments. The father told the court that he had been living with his wife despite the divorce. He said that he had brought his children to Pakistan in August 2021 with the legal permission of mothers. He also produced the permission letter before the court. The lawyer said that the two children were Polish citizens and they were studying there, adding that their stay in Pakistan had exceeded. Later, the court adjourned the hearing.