'Without my girls I will go insane'

A Dubai woman has been left devastated after her husband of seven years told her he was taking their three daughters to Safa Park but instead flew with them to Pakistan and disappeared. Lithuanian Maimouna Liskauskaite, 30, was still reeling from the shock when four days later her husband Jamshid Seddiqi, 36, sent her divorce papers and her in-laws asked her to vacate their Jumeirah villa. Maimouna is homeless and has barely enough money to sustain herself. But she is determined to fight and get her daughters back. With the help of a Dubai-based legal firm that's volunteered to fight her case for free, she has filed a case against her husband in Dubai Courts. She has also set up a Facebook group with a misspelt word ‘Looking for My 3 Daugthers' to drum up support. "I am living a nightmare every minute since April 4 when Jamshid abducted my little princesses and took them away to Pakistan. I can't imagine how they'd be managing. For God's sake, they are female children and need their mother's attention for day to day needs. The pain of separating from them is so intense, I think I will go mad. I can't live without them," says Maimouna as she wipes the tears from her eyes. Maimouna told XPRESS she met Dubai-born Jamshid in the mid-90s when he came to her home country Lithuania to complete his higher studies. "We struck an instant rapport. My mother worked in the hostel where he lived. I used to see him often. In 2003, I embraced Islam. I was known as Edita, but Jamshid gave me a new name, Maimouna, and a new identity. One year later, we got married. Jamshid got a job as a gastroenterologist with a hospital. Life was good," she recalls. Between 2004 and 2008, the couple had three children - Mariam 7, Aisha, 5, and Amna, 3 - all Lithuanian passport holders. But Jamshid didn't want to bring up their daughters in Lithuania so he suggested they move to an Islamic country. In January 2010, the family moved to Dubai to live with Jamshid's father at his Jumeirah villa. "We got a residence visa, but Jamshid couldn't land a job with a hospital in Dubai and we started having fights. Like any married couple we also had disputes, but they weren't serious," says Maimouna. "On April 4, he took my daughters out. He never came back. What came instead was a long distance call from him to his parents saying he had flown with the kids to Pakistan. When they relayed this news to me my whole world came crashing down. I was still in a state of denial when four days later Jamshid couriered me a ‘Divorce Deed' (see inset on page 16) saying he was divorcing me because I was not a good Muslim and that his relationship with me was never satisfactory. If our relationship was always unsatisfactory then how did he have three children with me? I converted to Islam but he is a born Muslim. He should know better. Where does it say that you dump your wife and snatch her children from her?" Ironically, it's some women members of a Dubai Muslim group, Al Huda Sisters, who have rallied behind Maimouna by giving her emotional support, money and accommodation. Maimouna has enrolled herself in an Islamic centre. When the grief becomes unbearable she seeks solace in the Quran. "I pray to be reunited with my daughters." So far her prayers have remained unanswered. Last fortnight, a summon sent by a Dubai Court to Jamshid's Pakistan address was returned undelivered. "We don't know where he is," said her lawyer. XPRESS, however, managed to contact Jamshid. Talking to us from an undisclosed location in Pakistan on Monday, Jamshid said he has no remorse for his action. "I was concerned about the future of my children. I did the right thing. Maimouna left me with no choice…she is not a good Muslim as she was always partying. She was setting a bad example for our daughters. In any case she never loved them. The only reason why she wants them back is to get financial concessions from the Lithuanian government." He said Maimouna is destroying his career by launching a Facebook smear campaign against him. "I don't want to have anything to do with her. The children are happy without her. They are being raised in an Islamic country, not in Lithuania," said Jamshid, who spent 17 years in Lithuania. When asked why he wouldn't let a Dubai Court decide who should get custody of the children, Jamshid said: "I am a Pakistan national. If Maimouna wants to file a case against me, she will have to file a case in a Pakistan court. For that she will have to come to Pakistan. Let's see how many people will support her in my country." Maimouna's father-in-law said that whatever has happened is unfortunate. He declined to make further comments. Meanwhile, with each passing day, Maimouna is sinking and deeper and deeper into despair. She carries a photo album of her daughters, flips through the pictures every few hours and stares vacantly into space - her reverie occasionally broken by the shrill laughter of children playing in the Al Quoz neighbourhood where she has taken shelter. From / Gulf News