US custody row: 18-month-old Indrashish Saha to return home with grandmother today

Kolkata: Indrashish Saha, an 18-month-old boy from Bengal, who had been taken away from his parents in the United States and put into the custody of the child protection organisation, will return home today.

Indrashish Saha is scheduled to arrive in Kolkata this morning with his grandmother Pragati Saha, who has been given custody of the child.

Indrashish was taken into protective custody by US authorities after the child suffered a head injury on August 9 last year. The access to the child by his parents - a US-based Indian couple from West Bengal - had also been limited.

Indrashish's parents, Pamela and Debashish Saha, admitted him to hospital with injuries to his head. The parents claimed he had fallen off the bed, the authorities claimed the injuries were deliberately caused and the boy showed signs of the shaken baby syndrome.

Debashish Saha then moved court which ruled on February 14 that the child would be handed over to the grandparents who are residents of Gangarampur in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal.

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The court, while dismissing the case, has allowed the mother to appeal against the allegation of the New Jersey authorities, which she has done to clear her name.

According to the grandparents of Indrashish, the parents did not press for custody in the US court as that would have required him to remain in interim foster care for a much longer period.

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