The Bombay High Court has termed as “unconscionable” the act of a man who took his minor daughter from his estranged wife’s custody and directed the couple to keep the child out of their personal conflict. The court further ordered the immediate return of the child to her mother.
A vacation bench comprising Justices Kamal Khata and Arif Doctor was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the woman, who alleged that her husband had forcibly taken away their five-year-old daughter and was refusing to return her.
Following directions issued by the court on Tuesday, the man appeared before the bench on Wednesday with the child. He denied any allegations of force, claiming he did not forcibly take the child. However, the bench expressed strong displeasure over his conduct.
“This is unconscionable. Imagine the trauma to the child. In the night, the father has snatched the child from her aunt or mother and gone, and he is saying there was no force,” the bench observed.
The court directed that the child be handed back to her mother immediately, while granting the father visitation rights every Saturday.
The judges also delivered a stern reminder to both parents: “Keep your child out of the fight between you two.”
