Mother loses custody battle to sister-in-law

The girl’s biological parents Sivakumar and Saranya gave her up for adoption in 2012 to Sivakumar’s sister Sathya, as she and her husband Ramesh were childless.
Image for representation for adoption. (Express illustrations)
Image for representation for adoption. (Express illustrations)

CHENNAI:  As two sisters-in-law engaged in an emotional battle for custody of a child, the Madras High Court recently ruled that the girl should be handed to her adoptive mother. The biological mother will get unrestricted access to the 10-year-old on the weekends though.

The girl’s biological parents Sivakumar and Saranya gave her up for adoption in 2012 to Sivakumar’s sister Sathya, as she and her husband Ramesh were childless. However, when Ramesh died of an illness in 2019, they demanded the girl back.

Sathya refused, and as the tussle continued, Saranya lodged a complaint with the Salem Commissioner of Police on October 27. The complaint was forwarded to the All Women Police Station in Ammapet, who informed the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of the dispute. The CWC issued a reception order and handed the girl to the Reception Home.

On October 29, Saranya and Sathya filed separate habeas corpus petitions before the Madras High Court, and Sathya later approached the Supreme Court for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. The apex court on November 13 ordered the parties to appear before the Madras High Court. A division bench, comprising Justices PN Prakash and R Hemalatha, took up the matter on November 23, and referred it to the mediation and conciliation centre.

‘Scope of Juvenille Act was breached’

Continued from page 1: The bench said it was illegal to admit the child to the Reception Home as she isn’t an orphan, and said the police and CWC acted beyond the scope of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, in doing so. “Therefore, in exercise of our powers under Sections 226 and 227 of the Constitution, we hereby set aside the order of the CWC, Salem, and hand over the child to Sathya,” the court ordered. It directed Sathya to give Sivakumar, Saranya and their two other children access to the adopted child on weekends.

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