Kidnap dad fights for access

Razwan Ali Anjum and Gemma Wilkinson

A Rochdale man jailed after abducting his daughter and taking her to Pakistan for three years is to argue in court for regular contact with her.

Former insurance salesman Razwan Ali Anjum, (29), will ask a High Court judge to allow him access to six–year–old Atiya Anjum–Wilkinson — found in Pakistan by police in December, over three years after vanishing.

Anjum told the child’s mother he was taking her to the seaside in November 2009 when she was three. In fact he took the child to Pakistan to live with his family.

Atiya was found on Christmas Eve and flown back to the UK to be reunited with her mother, Gemma Wilkinson (34) from Ashton. She is set to challenge the application.

Anjum was first jailed in 2010 for contempt of court after refusing to return the girl or to reveal where she was. He has been given consequent terms for repeated refusal to comply with court orders. Earlier this month he failed to win his freedom following Atiya’s discovery.

Mr Justice Holman ruled at the High Court in London that he should stay behind bars because he had not helped police reunite Atiya with her mother, adding: “The human cruelty of these facts of the matter can scarcely be overstated.”

Ms Wilkinson and Atiya now live at a secret address.