Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court Tuesday gave the custody of a 10-year-old girl to her maternal grandparents, instead of her mother as per the child's wish.

Nilu's mother had appealed for her custody after her doctor husband and father-in-law "forcibly" took the child away Oct 20 when she moved out of her house due to domestic violence.

After hearing her parents' statements, the division bench comprising Justice Amit Talukdar and Justice P.S. Banerjee asked Nilu with whom would she like to live. The girl said she did not want to live with either her mother or father, but with her maternal grandparents at Asansol town in West Bengal's Bardhman district.

"Although under the Hindu Marriage Act, it is the mother who is given the child's custody till he/she turns 14, after hearing Nilu's reply the court awarded her custody to her maternal grandparents saying it was for the benefit of her future," a court official said.

Nilu's mother, who is a painter by profession, lives in south Kolkata.

 

Source : IANS