It’s tough for 60-year-old Vallabhaneni Satyanarayana to console his seven-year-old grandson V Sai Sriram when he keeps insisting, “Where is my papa? Where have my parents gone?” Sri Sairam is the eldest son of V Chandrasekhar and Anupama who were arrested by the Oslo police for his alleged maltreatment in Oslo. They were accused of burning their son with a hot spoon or metal object and also hitting him with a belt.
Both children are in Hyderabad now, under the custody of their grandparents (father’s parents). “Sai Sriram repeatedly asks about his parents. The younger son Abhiram is also crying to see his parents and refuses to eat food,’’ explained Sailender, nephew of Chandrasekhar. “This will be a traumatic experience not only for the parents but also for their children,” V Radhakrishna, Chandrasekhar’s brother added.
Meanwhile, the couple have filed an appeal in a higher court in Norway. The couple appealed that it was the first time they were away from their two children—2-year-old Abhiram and 7-year-old Sai Sriram—and the kids needed to be protected by them. “The couple’s parents are chronic diabetics and are dependent on them. If the couple is in jail, the family will lose its source of income. The couple will abide by the Norway Child Acts and Law. The Orange Book, the complaint issued by the school against the couple, has gone missing.’’ the petition said. The couple’s counsel pleaded to consider curtailing the jail term or cancelling the judgment based on the grounds of children protection.
The state government is also leaving no stone unturned to secure the couple’s release. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has written separate letters to External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi requesting them to secure the release of the couple. Kiran Reddy requested the ministers to explain Indian traditions and parenting practices to the Norwegian authorities.
Chandrasekhar’s cousin Atluri Venu, an IT professional tried to pick holes in the arguments of the Oslo police prosecutor. “Sai Sriram was here in Hyderabad in 2007. How could the Oslo police consider charges from 2007? Moreover, the Orange Book (the complaint book forwarded to the police by Sai Sriram’s school) has gone missing from the school. The prosecutors failed to produce the book in court,’’ said Venu.
Soon after the Oslo police registered the case, Sriram was given a questionnaire having as many as 20 questions with multiple choice answers. The boy answered all the questions in one hour and a half and returned it to the Oslo police. “How could Oslo police believe in the statements of Sai Sriram? He could have given wrong answers due to communication problem. We suspect that the Oslo police deliberately furnished wrong information in the chargesheet,’’ alleged L Bhargav, brother of Anupama.