A mother
abandoned her husband and fled the country with her four children aged
between five and 13 in a bid to reach war-ravaged Syria, a court heard
today. Zahera Tariq disappeared last summer with her daughter and three sons, sparking an international manhunt.
The 33-year-old travelled from London City
Airport to Amsterdam Schiphol on August 25.
The family then travelled on to Istanbul, it was claimed. Tariq was eventually arrested on August 29 in Kilis, one of the two crossing points from Turkey into Syria.
The family then travelled on to Istanbul, it was claimed. Tariq was eventually arrested on August 29 in Kilis, one of the two crossing points from Turkey into Syria.
Tariq's
husband, named only as Mahmood, was completely unaware his wife’s plans
and had not given permission for her to take the children, Southwark
Crown Court heard. Two
of the boys also suffered from an eye condition called Keratoconus, for
which they were being treated by Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Mukal
Chawla, prosecuting, said: ‘One parent cannot simply take a child or
children abroad without the consent of the other parent.
‘To do so without the consent of the other parent amounts to the offence of child abduction and that’s what this defendant is charged with.’
‘To do so without the consent of the other parent amounts to the offence of child abduction and that’s what this defendant is charged with.’
Tariq, of Walthamstow, east London, and her husband were married in Pakistan in 2000, and he joined her in the UK in 2001.
He returned to his home in Walthamstow from his job at a dry cleaners in Edmonton on August 25 to find his home empty.
He was described as a ‘straightforward man of no sophistication’ who was unable to tell police the exact ages of his children.
He was not initially worried, as he believed his family may be at her mother’s house or with one of her sisters.
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