Norway custody case: CWC gives custody of kids to mother

Kolkata, Nov 9: The

case of two NRI

--Abhighyan (4) and Aishwarya (2)--seems to have become a never ending saga. Now, the Child Welfare Committee (

) in Burdwan in West Bengal has given the custody of both the children to their mother Sagarika Chakrabarty on Friday, Nov 9.

The decision of CWC has been protested by children's paternal uncle, who had earlier got the custody of the kids from Norwegian government. The children were caught in a custody battle over one year which snowballed into a diplomatic row between India and Norway.

The CWC passed an interim order that Abhighyan and Aishwarya should be released from foster care of their uncle and handed over to their mother. But the uncle's family refused to give up the children and the local police refused to intervene in the matter without proper papers.

CWC member Shika Sarkar Aditya said, "There was a mob outside the uncle's house and we could not take custody of the children. We asked the police for help but they did not do anything." Police sources say they will have to examine the papers before taking any action.

Now the child panel, responding to a petition filed by Sagarika, has said that the interests of the children are well preserved with their mother. Sagarika also had to undergo medical tests in Mumbai to prove that she was mentally sound.

The CWC, in a press release, said, "We have found the mother to be fit to take care of the children and their foster carer to have failed in his duties towards the children. We were unable to take charge of the children today for handover to their mother owing to unavailability of police assistance to control an unruly mob that had gathered around the foster home. We have ordered police to ensure law and order so that children can be peacefully handed over at the earliest."

In April, a court in Norway had given the custody of the children of estranged couple Anurup and Sagarika who lived in that country to Anurup's brother Arunabhash after it found the mother unfit to take care of the children.

The Indian government had to intervene in the matter.

OneIndia News