Man forges mother’s sign, mortgages house

“I will never forgive my son. I want the law to punish him,” says 61-year-old Habiba Khan, reports Vignesh Iyer.

“I will never forgive my son. I want the law to punish him,” says 61-year-old Habiba Khan.

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She claims her son allegedly forged her signature and mortgaged the flat she lives in without her knowledge, and has harassed her to leave the house. Khan has lived in the house in Mapkhan Nagar at Andheri, for the last 46 years.

“After my husband died in 1999, my son Ashraf (38), began quarrelling with me, saying he wanted me out of the house,” Khan said.

She added that Ashraf allegedly told her that since his father (Khan’s husband)

had bought the house, he (Ashraf) was now automatically the legal owner after his father’s death.

Khan first filed a complaint in the Andheri metropolitan magistrate’s court in 2001, as well as a case in the City

Civil court, which initially ordered status quo and in 2003, said Ashraf should either give her the flat he had bought in Mira Road, or let her stay in the Mapkhan Nagar house.

Khan said that in 2002, Ashraf and his paternal uncle Mohammed Unus Khan registered the house in Ashraf’s name.

“Even in 2003, when the case was in the civil court, Ashraf did not disclose this in court,” Khan said.

Khan discovered her son’s actions after a Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) put up an auction notice on her house.

“My son had taken a loan of Rs 8 lakh from a bank and mortgaged my house. I saw my signatures on the paper,” added Khan, who immediately got her name included in the case at DRT and has now got interim relief.

“As a mother, I had great expectations from my son. Let alone live up to those expectations, he’s ended up making trouble for me — at this age. One of my daughters living in Saudi Arabia sends me money, I don’t know how I would have survived otherwise,” said Khan.

“We’ve filed a private complaint last Thursday against Ashraf and his uncle Mohammed, since the police have taken no action,” said her advocate Faizal Sheikh.