KARACHI: A Pakistani octogenarian petitioned a court this week in the southern city of Jacobabad, requesting the judge to instruct his sons to allow him to remarry, his son confirmed on Tuesday.
Manthar Lashari, a resident of Jacobabad in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, filed an application at a district and sessions court, stating that he was alone and living without a wife in his twilight years. Lashari said it was difficult to live without a wife, adding that he needed a companion.
According to Islamic law, a man can marry four times. However, a significant ruling by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in August 2020 has made it mandatory for a man to obtain consent from his first wife or an arbitration council before marrying for the second time.
However, a man is not obligated to seek his children’s consent to remarry.
Lashari’s first wife has passed away. Arab News could not verify when her death took place.
“My sons did not listen to me, I went to my sons with the Holy Qur’an, but they still did not listen,” Lashari told reporters outside the court on Monday. He added that he needed a companion in his old age and had moved the court with the hope that it would convince his sons to arrange his second marriage.
In the video, Lashari can be heard telling reporters that he told his sons to search for a wife for him even if she was an elderly woman. However, Lashari alleged that his sons forbade him to marry and told all their relatives not to marry their daughters to him.
Mehboob Ali, Lashari’s son, said the family came to know about him approaching the court on Monday night after seeing the video of his interaction with reporters.
“If he wants to remarry, we don’t have any objection,” Ali told Arab News, adding that someone had misled his father and taken him to court.
He, however, argued that Lashari needed his children’s consent to remarry.
“If a father wants to do something, he asks his children. He hasn’t asked us for his marriage,” Ali said.
He said the judge will hear the case on Nov. 21.
