Actor Faysal Quraishi has challenged the belief that “a married woman should return to her parents’ home only for her funeral”, saying parents must support their children if they face violence or abuse, regardless of their marital status.
“Tell me, is she not your child? If you’re alive and God has given you the strength, then stand with her,” the actor said while speaking on Vasay Chaudhry’s show, questioning parents who refuse to support their daughters after marriage.
“You’ve raised her and now you won’t back her up?” he asked. “If she’s facing violence, abuse, you’ll just let that happen?”
Quraishi said that parents should not abandon their daughters when they need support, particularly when they face mistreatment. He also stressed that sons and daughters deserve equal importance in their parents’ eyes.
The actor said that he has noticed a shift in how the entertainment industry portrays fathers, with television dramas increasingly showing parents who stand up for their daughters.
He recalled watching a show featuring Shamyl Khan as a supportive father to Mawra Hocane and said he was happy to see the bond between the two characters. The reference was likely to the drama Jafaa, which featured Hocane in a storyline that sparked conversations about domestic violence.
“Whether you have a son or a daughter, they’re equally important,” Quraishi said. “And you have to stand behind your children. When someone’s standing behind you nobody dares to hurt you.”
The actor also connected the subject to his upcoming film Mango Jutt, which features Hareem Farooq, who joined him on the show.
Quraishi said that the film includes a dialogue in which his character looks at Farooq and tells her, “When you turn around to look behind you, I’ll be standing right there.”
