New Delhi: The Norway children custody case involving an NRI couple took a bizarre twist as the husband alleged that the wife had 'psychological problems'. Anurup Bhattacharya alleged marital violence and said he has been having problems with his wife.
According to an agreement with Norwegian authorities, the kids would have returned to India and been raised by their uncle. However, a court hearing to approve this arrangement has been postponed indefinitely.
Anurup Bhattacharya told the national daily 'The Hindu', "If I concealed the seriousness of Abhigyan's and our family's problems it was because I thought that was the only way we could get our children back. But I now realise that was a mistake and I should have spoken the truth right from the start."
But Sagarika has denied this and vows to fight for her children's custody under the Indian law.
The Hindu quotes the Norwegian child services saying the children, Abhigyan and Aishwarya are 'damaged'.
The family's lawyer, too, has hinted at marital problems. Speaking to CNN-IBN through Skype, he said, "There is tremendous pressure on the family. There have been some issues for which we need to sit down together. We are not being able to come to a joint solution. There were a lot of documentation required which has not been done so the hearing on Friday would be postponed."
The two kids have been in foster care since May, 2011 with the Norwegian child services worried about their safety.
The two Indian children were expected to return to Kolkata within days, but may now continue to live in Norway.
The case now raises some questions:
- Are the kids better off in foster care in Norway?
- Should the parents have fully disclosed their circumstances to the authorities?
- Was Norway right all along in saying cultural factors were not the reason why the parents lost custody?
- Was Norway protecting the interests of the children by not going public with the family's private matters?
- Should India have been more cautious in its intervention?
- Did the government come under pressure from the family, opposition and the Indian public?
0 comments:
Post a Comment