An Afghan couple who came to the United States as refugees are suing a Marine and his wife for allegedly kidnapping their child.
The newlyweds are rescued from Kabul and brought to Washington by the navigator, Joshua Mast, during the chaos withdraw US troops last year.
The little girl was rescued two years earlier from the wreckage of a US Special Forces raid that killed her parents and five siblings, and has gone to live with the couple’s cousin. of her and his wife – after many months in a US military hospital.
When they arrived in the US in late August 2021, Mr. Mast pulled them out of the international queue and led them to an inspector, according to the lawsuit they filed last month.
They were surprised when Mast presented the child with an Afghan passport, the couple said, and they noticed that the girl’s last name had been changed to Mast.
Unbeknownst to the family, according to court documents, the Marine and his wife, Stephanie, had adopted the child in a Virginia courthouse, 7,000 miles away.
The couple said Mr. Mast, after filing custody papers, took the baby from the couple five days after they arrived in the US. They haven’t seen the youngster since.
“After they took her away, our tears never stopped,” the Afghan woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Associated Press.
“Right now, we’re just corpses. Our hearts are broken. We have no plans for a future without her. Food has no taste, and sleep doesn’t give us rest. rest.”
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‘We acted admirably’
In a federal lawsuit filed in September, the Afghan family charged Masts with imprisonment, conspiracy, fraud and assault.
Mr Mast has claimed he and his wife are the legal parents of the girl, now 3 and a half years old, and that they “acted admirable” to save her.
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“Joshua and Stephanie Mast did nothing but ensure she received the medical care she required, at great personal expense and sacrifice, while providing her with a loving home. injury,” wrote Masts’ attorney.
The Mast family also called the Afghan family’s statements “unwarranted, outrageous attacks” on their integrity, and argued in court filings that they had worked “to defend them” the child from physical, mental or emotional harm”.
They asked a federal judge to dismiss the case.
The ordeal has drawn several US government agencies, who say the alleged incident could significantly damage military and foreign relations.
