A devout Catholic woman has turned to the Western Cape High Court to help her prove that her husband fathered a child out of wedlock before he married her, providing grounds for the church to annul her marriage.
Iwona Paszkow, who works as a nurse in the UK, said she could not move on with her life while still married in the eyes of God and that any future relationships she entered into would be tantamount to adultery. This violated her right to dignity and religion.
In her application she has asked the court to order her husband to confirm whether or not he fathered a child before marrying her.
Muhammad Abduroaf, for Paszkow, told Weekend Argus the case was important because, if the relief was granted, “it would mean that the law has developed to such an extent that the courts are strongly weighing the religious rights of individuals against the privacy rights of others”.
“Religious belief and consciousness of individuals would not only be protected, but be enforced by our courts even if it means the rights of others may be limited or infringed to a certain extent,” he said.
In court papers it emerged that Paszkow and her husband had a civil union before they were married in a Catholic church in Cape Town in 2010. The Catholic Church does not recognise divorce.
About four months into the marriage, he left her while she was in the UK, where she still lives today. He remarried soon after that.
In 2013 she heard that his new wife had had a baby and, out of curiosity, she went online to see if she could find a picture of the child. Using Google, she searched for the word “baby” and her husband’s surname.
It led her to the births section of Melomed Hospital’s website, where she found a picture of a baby born in 2009 – just months before their wedding. The baby bore a striking resemblance to her son.
“I was surprised by how the baby with the same surname can be so similar in resemblance to (my husband) and our child,” Paszkow said in an affidavit.
She decided to contact him, but her probing only made him angry and he accused her of trying to break up his marriage. This raised her suspicions even more.
“A reasonable person would believe that he was the father, based on his conduct,” she said, adding that he did not deny that he was the father at any stage.
After making contact with the Catholic Interdiocesan Tribunal, Paszkow was told that there was a high possibility that their marriage would be annulled if she obtained confirmation that the 2009 baby on the website was, in fact, her husband’s. As a result she turned to the high court for relief.
Melomed Hospital Holdings has also been cited as a respondent to the application because it declined a request she made, using the Promotion of Access to Information Act, to obtain the baby’s records.
Paszkow said she was at her wits’ end in her quest to find out the truth, saying that it pained her that her husband had been living in sin and that there was nothing she could do about it. In addition, she said she could not move on with her life unless the marriage was annulled.
“I do not want to feel that I am committing adultery, knowing the second respondent is still my husband… According to the Bible, adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God. My faith is extremely important.”
She also plans to sue her husband for his alleged deceit.
Speaking to Weekend Argus about her situation this week, Paszkow said she didn’t want to go through life wondering whether or not the baby was her husband’s.
The application has not yet been heard because Melomed wants the court to direct Paszkow to put up R100 000 security for costs. – Weekend Argus