American grandparents fight for grandson held hostage in #pakistan

A custody battle over the fate of a former Oklahoma Borough boy will continue in a Pakistan courtroom for at least another month.

A Pakistan judge made no ruling Thursday in the case involving Imran Hashmi, 12.

The custody fight is between Imran's mother and stepfather, Yasmeen and Kamran Hashmi, and his maternal grandparents, Bill and Kathy Gregg of Oklahoma.

Shereen Masoud, an attorney in Pakistan who is working for the Greggs to have Imran returned to the United States, said the court could make a decision regarding final custody following a July 13 meeting.

The Valley News Dispatch wrote about the dispute between the Hashmis and Greggs in January.

Imran is living in an orphanage in Pakistan pending the case's resolution.

His stepfather and mother say they placed the child at the SOS Children's Village Lahore because they wanted him to get an education, a claim his grandparents dispute.

Hashmi, a doctoral student, said schooling isn't free in Pakistan. He said he and his wife can't afford to pay for the boy's education. The only way for Imran to go to school was to place him in the facility.

The Greggs dispute that, alleging his parents abandoned him in the northern Pakistan town.

Custody history

According to Westmoreland County court records, a judge awarded sole custody of the boy to his mother on March 30, 2001.

Hashmi and the then-Melissa Gregg began dating in 1999. Hashmi said his wife's parents became angry when they learned she was seeing Hashmi.

"They were upset with her for dating me because of my Muslim background," Hashmi said.

In 2000, the Westmoreland County Children's Bureau took custody of Imran because he was found to have injuries - including a broken leg - that were thought to be a result of abuse, Hashmi said.

Hashmi alleges the Greggs injured the boy while the Greggs blame Hashmi. The Children's Bureau placed the baby in the Greggs' care while investigating the injuries. The bureau never made a finding of responsibility.

Imran stayed with the Greggs along with his mother, who lived with her parents at the time.

Later in 2000, Melissa Gregg and Hashmi became engaged. Not long after, Hashmi said, the Greggs accused their daughter of interfering with the custody of a child -- a criminal charge. Hashmi said the Greggs wanted to punish their daughter for the engagement.

She moved out of her parents' house because of the dispute, although Imran remained, Hashmi said.

The Westmoreland County District Attorney's office dropped the interference charge. Timothy Geary, the Vandergrift attorney who represented Mrs. Hashmi, said the charge lacked merit.

The charge's dismissal paved the way for Imran's mother to regain custody, which was awarded to her in 2001 by Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway, while Imran's parents were living together in Shaler.

The couple married and Melissa converted to Islam, changing her first name to Yasmeen. They remained in Shaler until 2003 when they left for Pakistan to visit Kamran's sick father. The Hashmis took Imran and the two children they had together, Kamran Hashmi said.

Pakistan

The Hashmis went to Pakistan on visas and stayed there for six years, Kamran Hashmi said.

He said they enrolled Imran in a religious boarding school, called a madrassa, when he was about 7.

In 2009, Kamran Hashmi, a software engineer, went to a university in England to earn a doctorate, he said. His wife and children stayed in Pakistan with his parents.

Hashmi said he wasn't earning much money as a student and couldn't afford the madrassa. So his wife took Imran to the SOS Children's Village Lahore for schooling.

"She only took him there so he could get his education," Hashmi said. He said his wife didn't know the facility serves as an orphanage for abandoned children. The SOS Children's Villages of Pakistan website makes it clear the facility serves as a home for orphaned or abandoned children. According to the site, the facility will accept children whose mothers have remarried.

According to the SOS Children's Villages International website, the organization operates in 132 countries and territories with a focus on "children without parental care and children of families in difficult circumstances."

"We didn't know there was any kind of orphanage connection," Hashmi said. "The child was never abandoned."

Hashmi said his wife and their four children -- they had two more while living in Pakistan -- moved to England in early 2010 and left Imran at the SOS.

When it was clear the family would stay in England, the Hashmis sought to have Imran join them. But when they contacted the SOS, they learned the Greggs had filed for custody.

"They don't realize the grandmother is playing games," Hashmi said of the Pakistani officials handling the case.

Kathy Gregg said she wants what she feels is best for Imran and believes he belongs with her family in America.

Gregg said she gave her power of attorney to Masoud and relies on the attorney for updates on the case and Imran's welfare.

The court agreed to let Imran communicate with his grandparents on Skype, although Gregg said she has only been able to connect with the boy through Skype once.

"I have been trying daily to reach him," she said. "I'm trying to establish a relationship with him."

Almas Butt, director at the SOS, said Imran "is happy and is getting the love and attention he deserves" at the facility.

Asked if Imran's parents abandoned him, Butt said, "I don't know if you would call it 'abandoned.' The mother said she could not afford to educate him and care for him, so she brought him here."

Butt said Yasmeen Hashmi "had no connection with the child for months," though she is currently in Pakistan.

When SOS officials contacted the Hashmis to inform them about the Greggs' custody request, the Hashmis started calling Imran and sought to have him sent to England, Butt said.

"The mother has not given up custody," Butt said. "I don't know which way the judgment will lie. We are not a party to this."

Charles Johnson, president and CEO of the National Council for Adoption, suggested diplomacy will play a role in the case.

"I don't think anyone can tell now how it would work out," he said, adding he believed the U.S. government would "keep an eye on it."

A Department of State official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the department is "aware of this case," but refused to "discuss the details of this family's circumstances with the general public."

Read more: Oklahoma Borough family tries to bring grandson back - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_744012.html#ixzz1QT1vqClJ