A US citizen of Pakistani origin has approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking help to trace her husband and two minor children, who were allegedly brought to Pakistan instead of being taken for Umrah.
The petitioner, Ghulam Ghausia Akhunzada, told the court that she married Taxila resident Muhammad Owais Tariq in January 2014. After their marriage, Tariq settled in the United States, where the couple had two sons — Arham, 8, and Haider, 5.
She stated that her husband took the children’s passports on the pretext of performing Umrah but instead travelled to Pakistan without her consent.
“My husband has multiple addresses in Pakistan. I searched for him and the children but could not trace them,” she said, adding that a local court in the US had already ruled in her favour.
The petitioner requested the court to direct authorities to locate her husband and order him to hand over custody of the children. During the hearing, IHC Justice Muhammad Asif directed the director general of the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency to trace Tariq and submit a complete report by 11 September.
The News Published in Express Tribune September 11, 2025
