7 hours agoMuslims in Russia lose custody of children if remarriage
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)Sannet has lost custody of her two children under 12 years of age after being remarried. A family court in the Russian region of the Northern Caucasus has made a decision in behalf of its ex-husband, who has said she does not want her children to grow up with her stepfather [...]
Sannet has lost custody of her two children under 12 years of age after being remarried.
A family court in the Russian region of the Northern Caucasus has made a decision in the behalf of her ex-husband, who has said she does not want her children to grow up with their stepfather.
Sannet's case is not unusual in this predominantly Muslim conservative region, where children are often regarded as the property of their fathers or family members.
These local faiths face Russian law. However, they form the judges ' decisions, unable to custody many mothers in case of divorce, second marriage, or if they remain widows.
During the hearing, Sannet has said that the judge and the lawyer of the ex-husband have openly told her that she has no right to care for the children because she is married again.
“Even the former husband has been married again, but nobody says children should not be raised with stepparents”, Sannet said, whose name has been changed to protect their identity.
I've been told that [by contrast to mother's remarriage] father's remarriage does not change the situation, and that father should raise children”, the 31-year-old woman who now lives in the Russian region of Ingussetia said.
The court has guaranteed Sannet the right to visit her daughter once a week and meet her son once a month. However, Sannet has said that the former man often does not allow him to see the children.
Sannet's ex-husband has taken him to court, asking him to pay $260 for allimentation. The average salary in Ingushet is worth $380, according to the Federal Service for Russian State Statistics.
Prejudice Judges
The exact number of women who have lost custody of children in this region is unknown. However, such occasions are considered to be widespread.
In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Russian authorities to reunite Chechen's wife, Luisa Tapayeva, and her four minor children, whom her grandfather took care of when her husband died.
Tapayeva's father-in-law has told her that her children “belong to the husband's family”. After failing to win custody of her children in Russia, Tapayeva has taken the case to the ECHR.
In its decision, the ECHR has said there have been similar cases and, in the past, from the Russian regions of the Northern Caucasus, mainly in Chechnya and Ingsheti.
A family lawyer in this region, who has spoken of Radio Free Europe under anonymous conditions, has said that many judges in Chechnya and Inguseti “are dedicated to the local norms, and they apply them to decisions instead of implementing Russian law.
The legal representatives of fathers in judicial processes referred to the mother's second marriage as a charter to win the case”, the lawyer has said briefly.
According to many Islamic scholars, mothers should enjoy custody of their children if they divorce and no longer marry. Fathers should offer financial support to their children, regardless of whether they get married again, according to researchers.
When I hear these arguments, I tell them this is a secular court, and they have to go and find an Islamic court if they want the decision to be based on religion”, the lawyer said.
They tell me in the hallways that it's not a tradition for children to remain under the care of their mother if she marries again. I then ask them that it's our tradition to take an allimentation from the mother? /REL
