Amid War, A Ukranian Mother, Indian Father Fight For Child In Delhi Court

In an endeavour to re-unite a three-year-old child, who was allegedly illegally brought to India by his father, with his Ukrainian mother and sister, the Delhi High Court Tuesday asked the family to spend some time together so the boy could bond with them.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Amit Sharma asked the family - the child, his parents and sister - to spend time together till 4 pm at the court's creche and appear before the court on Wednesday.

As the minor boy's mother and sister, who have come here from Ukraine, tried to speak to the child in the court, he did not give any positive response.

When the woman alleged the child, who was in his father's lap, had been tutored, the bench said he was too young to be tutored and the court will give her enough time to meet him.

The child's mother earlier informed the court she and her former husband, an Indian, were divorced and though the minor's custody was granted to her by a court in the east European country, the man took the boy away without informing her.

The man and the child appeared in the court pursuant to earlier directions by which the bench had asked the Delhi Police to trace them as the woman claimed in her plea that her son was illegally brought to India during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

At the outset, the bench asked the man to give the child to his mother so he could spend some time with her and his sister.

"We expect the parties to sit together so that the mother and sister are able to reunite with the child," the bench said.

As the man said he has no issues if the woman meets the child, the court said, "You should not have any problem after all she is the biological mother. She is equally capable of looking after the child. The other one is his sister, you should not have any problem."

During the day, the counsel for both the parties submitted they are desirous of spending some time together so the child can bond with his mother and elder sister after the traumatic events that separated them.

The court asked the lawyers to facilitate the interaction between the family and told the child's mother, "We wish you all the best. Hopefully, you will be able to spend time with the boy and refresh your attachment." To the boy's father, the bench said, "Don't carry him in your lap all the time. You can leave him freely in the creche," The woman, in her plea moved through advocate Sravan Kumar, has alleged her son was abducted by her former husband on March 23 when he had taken the child for a walk and not returned.

After the dissolution of their marriage last year, the man was granted visitation rights of their minor son.

Besides seeking the production of the child, the woman has also sought a direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the Delhi Police to lodge a case for kidnapping, illegal travel of a minor without valid documents, creation of a fabricated Indian passport in Ukraine and causing pain to the petitioner and her daughter.

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