“He’s wearing the same clothing, it’s dirty,” neighbor Debbie Scoggins told NBC TV affiliate KPRC. “He has no bathroom facilities, no shoes.”...According to the son, "My dad has abused my mom, emotionally as well as physically." Obviously, the living on the lawn is a form of emotional abuse. “We are ashamed that my father has caused all this problem and hate toward my mom.”
“They’re married so it’s community property,” Detective Tim Dohr of the Lakeview Police Department, which oversees policing in the neighborhood, told the Chronicle. “One has just as much right as the other to be there. We can’t make him leave, which is her wish, and we can’t really force her to do anything with regard to him.”...
While Khan lives outside, with no access to food, his wife, a physician, has placed a sign on the front door asking people not to feed her husband....
Sharafat says he wants his wife “to realize whatever she is doing she’s doing bad. People will know, the neighbors and everything else. People will ask her, put her down. Let her know what you’re doing to your husband.”
I'd lean toward the wife, but she has the power to seek a divorce and to divide that property. She's not taking that step, supposedly because of "religious reasons."
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33 comments:
You? Lean towards the wife?
The Devil you say!
"One has just as much right as the other to be there."
Apparently this translates into the female co-owner having the right to live inside their house, and the male co-owner having the right to not be thrown off his own lawn by the cops. Separate but equal, you might say.
"Obviously, the living on the lawn is a form of emotional abuse."
Abusive toward the husband, yes. Oh, is that not what you meant?
Too bad his name isn't "Sharaflat."
Would society allow him to kick the wife out and force her to sleep on the lawn?
This is domestic abuse, and the wife should be forced to allow him in his house, or arrested.
Why can't they get divorced? Kim Davis did four times and is supposedly religiously devote. Go the hillbilly route Sharafat!
Points from the article:
they can’t force his wife — identified by the Houston Chronicle as Dr. Shahnaz Khan — to let her husband inside the residence.
Why is this true? If its community property (as stated) she's illegally denying him access.
Despite owning half the couple’s mansion, Khan doesn’t have access to money.
Same issue.
Can you imagine police taking such a hands off approach with the genders reversed? Even if he was an abuser this would have to be seen as abuse also.
Neighbors said the pillows and blankets are usually confiscated by Khan’s wife.
This is even worse. Items specifically for his use are stolen by her.
Also interesting she previously filed for divorce but now says she won't for religious reasons. Is this evidence for his claim she won't initiate a divorce because it would lead to splitting the assets she fully controls now?
I don't understand the police actions.
"Apparently this translates into the female co-owner having the right to live inside their house, and the male co-owner having the right to not be thrown off his own lawn by the cops."
What's stopping him from entering the house? The cops are just staying out of it until there is a law violation. It's not that the law requires her to be the one in the house and him to be the one on the lawn.
This brings to mind the temporary insanity of king Nebuchadnezzar. He lived on the lawn eating grass too. That was a humbling experience. Incidentally, Khan means ruler.
It appears that these guys are determined to use community shaming and not pay American lawyers to use an established the Equitable court system of a Divorce. The stupid jerks think they are winning because nobody pays any legal fees.
she has no right to keep him out of the house he owns.
Ann Althouse said...
What's stopping him from entering the house?
From the article:
his wife kicked him out of the house and changed the locks.
Religious reasons? I thought there was nothing easier than a Muslim divorce. ("I divorce thee" repeated 3 times.) Her motivation for not seeking a divorce probably has more to do with alimony obligations running in his favor.
It always takes two assholes to make a real mess.
Winter might change that.
Ann Althouse said...What's stopping him from entering the house?
What or whom? It seems pretty likely that the wife is stopping him from coming in the house, either physically or by telling him to keep out. If he decided to go in anyway and she claimed assault I don't think he'd have much of a defense, no?
Types of domestic abuse> (Gay Men's Domestic Violence Project)
Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Emotional Abuse
Financial Abuse
Identity Abuse
Under "Financial Abuse"
•Controlling shared resources, including bank accounts and common property
So the wife's committing domestic violence. This poor, poor man.
Of course, under "Emotional Abuse"
•Demeaning the partner in front of friends, family or strangers
•Constant criticism or humiliation
..so his public actions might count as emotional abuse which would make him a domestic abuser, too.
Ann Althouse said..I'd lean toward the wife,
Why?
The cops said they cannot, "force his wife — identified by the Chronicle as Dr. Shahnaz Khan — to let her husband inside the residence."
He owns half the house. Break a window - he owns half of them - while she is at work. Change the locks, board up the window and see what happens.
There are two photographs. Is that really replete?
I've done far worse than kill you. I've hurt you. And I wish to go on . . . hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me. As you left her. Marooned for all eternity on the front lawn of a Huston mansion . . . buried alive . . . [voice drops to a menacing whisper] . . . buried alive.
"KHAAAAAAAAN!"
Even reading the article, it's quite unclear to me just what the backstory is on this game of abuse-your-spouse volleying that they've obviously been doing on for a while. However, despite this lack of sufficient information, it's rather interesting to me just how quick commenters are- both at the WaPo and here- to take one side or another.
"his wife kicked him out of the house and changed the locks."
I've locked myself out of my house. I manage to get back in.
If someone changed the lock on your door, would you just start living on the lawn?
"Ann Althouse said..I'd lean toward the wife, Why?"
I said I would, but I don't, because from the incomplete facts we have here, I'd say she needs to get a divorce.
But if it weren't for that, I'd lean toward her because of the evidence that he was abusing her before she kicked him out and because it's abusive to live on her lawn like that and try to ruin her reputation by behaving pathetically. He has no "access" to the money, but how did that happen? She's a doctor. Does he earn any money? Apparently, he's living like a homeless person in the yard. Why not work, earn some money, hire a lawyer, and get a divorce.
Are there no lawyers that will handle his case with the promise of getting paid when the divorce splits the property?
"abusive to live on her lawn like"
I should say: on their lawn. That's why the police won't help her.
Once somebody is clear that they don't want to live with you, you should get out of their hair, or you're a stalker. But this man has nowhere to go and is perhaps mentally incompetent. Why she hasn't figured out how to take care of her problem, I don't know. And the neighbors have a problem too, and they sound as though they're not too resourceful in dealing with the neighborhood's problem. Well, they're all rich, though, right? So no one cares.
not too resourceful in dealing with the neighborhood's problem
Bullet costs a quarter. Since everyone in Texas knows that, the explanation is as usual probably not what you think.
I guess they don't have an HOA. :)
Even if there religion is against divorce, it does preclude a separation agreement. If she wants him off the lawn, she can pay for his room at the Motel 6. She controls the money. She has money. There are lots of attorneys who would take the case.
My sympathies are with the neighbors.
BTW, that's not a mansion. A million dollars doesn't buy you a mansion in most places. It's a nice house.
Is this a real story, or bullshit? Too many things in it don't make sense.
In response to myself, a commenter on the article pointed out the wife did file for divorce, but he's refusing to move forward. Apparently he does have the money to stay in a hotel but has been quoted as saying that he wants to embarrass his wife.
Other accounts, including one from his son, indicate that he's an asshole.
Ann Althouse said...
"his wife kicked him out of the house and changed the locks."
I've locked myself out of my house. I manage to get back in.
I'd like to see one single instance where a man locked a woman out of her own home - with no money - and the police walked away reasoning she could hire a locksmith or break a window. Is there even a millionth of a percent chance this standard has ever been enforced against a woman?
If someone changed the lock on your door, would you just start living on the lawn?
I thought we were discussing the law. Because someone acts strangely their rights change?
Yes. The wife. The poor wife. I may drive over there and run the fucker over. I feel like I have a little pep to my step thinking about it.
Whoo-Hoo!
To quote Groucho Marx from Duck Soup as he prosecutes (defends) accused spy and less than sympathetic witness, Chico, "There's my argument, end immigration."
Did we really need these two (the Khan's) in the country? Would anyone want her to be their doctor? "Take two aspirins and live on the lawn for six months."
And for those who think a million dollar home isn't much, a million buys a lot of house in Texas.
I see a New Yorker cartoon: The guy lying at the edge of the lawn looking up with hungry eyes at some family standing on the sidewalk reading the sign that says Please Don't Feed My Husband.
In which Will Farrell, Dan Rush, and Raymond Carver, among others, have already created some sort of on point content: Everything Must Go http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1531663/
Coupe,
You can't eat just one, eh?
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