‘Taught to hate’: Details on Calgary father charged with abduction revealed in bail hearing

Court heard that a Calgary physician charged with abducting his young son — igniting a two-year global police chase — was being hounded for $1.6 million by authorities when he fled and, while on the lam, taught the boy to hate his mom.

Muhammad Zia-Ur Rahman, 62, is charged with one count of parental abduction for allegedly taking his then-five-year-old son in December 2023.

Rahman was captured last month at an airport in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, and brought back to Calgary on Jan. 17. 

Police say the boy, now seven, was reunited with his mother just before Christmas. 

Crown prosecutor Colin Schulhauser told Rahman’s bail hearing Friday it hasn’t been an easy reunion.

“She reports he is completely alienated from her, he has been taught to hate her and the reintegration has been quite difficult,” he said.

In an unusual move, details of the bail hearing were not subject to a publication ban. 

None of the accusations have been proven in court.

Schulhauser said Rahman extensively planned the abduction, including forging documents, buying overseas property and attempting to create a new identity for his son.

He said documents show Rahman transferred more than US$561,000 between June and July of 2022. There were also transfers of 3 million Turkish lira — worth C$95,000 — to Turkey.

Investigators believe the pair first went to Turkey then hopped to countries from Asia to the South Pacific, including Russia, Azerbaijan and Vanuatu. 

Schulhauser said Rahman is accused of receiving an overpayment of $1.6 million from Alberta Health.

“There are multiple reasons for this accused to leave Canada, and there are no reasonable conditions that … could contain him or force him to remain. The accused has no ties to Calgary, Alberta or Canada,” said Schulhauser.

“The accused has multiple citizenships in countries that do not have extradition agreements with Canada. 

“Alberta Health is trying to obtain $1.6 million dollars from him. He is facing a significant prison term if he is convicted. He has no friends and no family.”

The search for Rahman involved partnerships with several organizations, including the RCMP, Global Affairs Canada, the Canadian Central Authority and Interpol, which sent out international alerts for both the father and the child, which ultimately led to the arrest. 

Rahman’s lawyer, Lakhwinder Sandhu, said his client didn’t delay his return to Canada to face charges. He also said Rahman believed he had the legal right to take his son.

“At the end of the day, this trial will be a (case of) he said, she said. He’s going to say, ‘I was allowed to travel with the child abroad,'” said Sandhu.

The judge is scheduled to give a decision on bail on Monday.

Advocacy group EVE helps bring abducted Calgary child home

After the child was unlawfully taken from Canada in late 2023, End Violence Everywhere (EVE) moved quickly to help bring him back home.

“’If we don’t get the child now, we may never, and so you have to act quickly’ I told my staff,” said Cait Alexander, the founder and CEO of EVE.

“We proceeded to book the mother’s tickets from YYC, from Calgary to Africa … just the 24 hours after, and so she went on her way, flew through the EU and then eventually landed in Mauritius, where she was reunited at the airport with her child.”

Calgary police confirmed EVE’s role in this case.

Meanwhile, EVE says the operation cost over $11,000 and highlights the need for better support for families navigating international child abductions.

The organization says it will continue helping the child with rehabilitation as he settles back into life at home.

With files from Henna Saeed, CityNews