Kolkata:
The Swedish father of an 11-year-old boy of Indian origin being held in foster care in Sweden for the last three years has expressed willingness to apply for Indian citizenship.
The boy, Domenic Samuel Johansson, was born to an NRI mother Annie, formerly known as Nirmalkumar Bharos from Pune.
Annie had earlier appealed to Sagarika Bhattacharya, who was recently reunited with her infant son and daughter Abhigyan and Aishwarya after the children were released by Norway's Child Welfare Services, for securing release of her son.
The child's father, Christer Johansson, a resident of Visby in Sweden, has applied to the Indian embassy in Stockholm for Indian citizenship.
A Kolkata-based NGO, Smile India, which first brought to light the Norwegian custody row, quoting Christer's application said that he wished to apply for Indian citizenship or dual passports for himself, his wife and son.
The Indian embassy in Stockholm, however, has turned down his plea for Indian citizenship and has told him that since he was married to an Indian woman, he and his son could apply for Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cards, India's Smile secretary Trustee Rajeev Sarkar told PTI.