A doctor whose ex-wife abducted their daughter two years ago says he has been left virtually bankrupt trying to find her, and is losing hope.
Safraz Khan, 44, has spent thousands of pounds on legal fees and trips to Pakistan, where the child is believed to be. His daughter Aamina was six when she was taken from her home by former wife Humma Dar. He alleges some members of her family were complicit and this month he tried to persuade the High Court to sentence them to jail.
But his committal application was struck out on a technicality, because he could not produce key documents. Dr Khan, of Croydon, broke down and stormed out following the ruling last Wednesday. He said it had been his “last chance” to find his beloved daughter.
Dr Khan was granted custody of Aamina after splitting from his wife in 2006, two years after an arranged marriage. Mrs Dar, 39, vanished with the child from her Morden home in August 2011. He had just handed her over during the summer holidays. Her car had been sold six days earlier by relatives, he claimed, and police told him she had obtained a Pakistani passport for Aamina and they had flown there.
Mrs Dar’s family deny any involvement and say they have had no contact with her for months. Dr Khan said: “It’s been really hard. I am shocked by the [court] decision, disgusted. [Mrs Dar] is never going to return to the UK. This was my last hope.”
Relatives must still comply with a location order and a disclosure order compelling them to provide any information they have of Aamina’s whereabouts, he said. At the High Court Family Division, Judge Clive Heaton said it was impossible not to sympathise: “I urge the father to pursue all proper steps open to him to locate his daughter.”
Aamina, who he called “intelligent, happy-go-lucky ... loved by everyone”, is on the website missingkids.co.uk. In a public letter to her, Mr Khan, who works in medical research, wrote: “If you’ve been told your father doesn’t love you, or never wanted you, or gave you to your mother, it’s a lie. I’ve tried to find you and I’m still searching.”
