Norway gives custody of NRI kids to their uncle

New Delhi, April 23
The Norwegian Court in Stavanger today announced its verdict to handover the two Indian children in foster care to their uncle, bringing to an end the prolonged battle fought by their parents over their custody.
The two kids, three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya, will return to India tomorrow along with their uncle Arunabhash. The External Affairs Ministry is making all necessary arrangements in this regard.
The two children were in the custody of the Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS) since last May. The court was fully satisfied with the steps taken by the Indian government and agreed to hand over the children to their uncle, saying it was better for them to grow up in India due to cultural differences.
During the last hearing in the case, the CWS and the children’s parents had submitted a joint claim to the court, stating that there was an agreement that the conditions for the kids being taken into care have been met.
A hearing on the children’s custody on March 23 did not take place after a physical argument between the parents of the children, Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya, in which the latter accused his wife of physical violence and hiding a psychological condition.
Following reports of discord between the couple, the CWS had said that the grounds for signing the earlier agreement did not exist any longer that it would not hand over the custody of the children to their uncle.
The parents had on March 21 jointly gave an undertaking in the presence of an Indian official that the custody of the kids could be handed over to their uncle. Thereafter, the CWS agreed to hand over the kids to the uncle.
The case witnessed a series of twists and turns with the Indian Government sending a special envoy to negotiate with the Norwegian authorities on behalf of the parents for the first time in such a row. However, the government became watchful after reports of a marital discord between the parents of the kids.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also taken up the matter with his Norwegian counterpart during the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul last month.