When war erupted between Russia and Ukraine in March this year, the Ukrainian mother had greater concerns her 3-year-old child she had with an Indian national.
The war is still going on there, and here this lady battling for her son.
On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court ordered Delhi police to locate the boy and her husband, 44, the woman after moving to the court to accuse the husband for taking her boy.
Justice Siddharth and Justice Amit issued a notice to the Ministry of Home affairs and External Affairs, the CBI, the Delhi Police and to her ex-husband. The court gave time for the center and the Delhi government to seek guidance on the issue. And listed the matter for 14 november.
Center argued in court that it was seeking confirmation from immigration officials whether the man had entered India. HC said he told Ajay Digpaul, the central government’s permanent adviser, who appeared at the State Department, “It’s all you need to tell us if he has entered India.”
The Supreme Court went on to notify the man “by any permissible means, including e-mail,” stating:
The Court also questioned whether it is possible to order the return of a child to its mother in such turbulent times. During the hearing, the mother participated in a teleconference from Ukraine with an interpreter. When the court asked her if she was certain her ex-husband was in India, she replied that she was certain her children were in Indian territory.
A woman who is a school teacher also filed with the HC police proceedings against a man in Ukraine, but the 2021 Ukrainian courts have already granted custody of the child after the divorce, which the man took without her consent.
She said he went for a walk with his son on March 27 and returned. He was granted visitation rights by the authorities, but a Ukrainian court ruled that “he is only three years old and was born in Ukraine, so he is with his mother.”
She also said she learned that the men had been sighted in Guwahati and Bihar, regularly changing locations. HC asked the woman’s attorney why she had not contacted the court, even though she had information about it.
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Sravan Kumar, says the man took advantage of the war in Ukraine to cross the border into Moldova, then to Romania and then to buy a plane ticket to India.
“The Defendant No. 5 (father) unlawfully and knowingly provided false information to the Indian authorities in order to illegally remove a child from Ukraine,” the complaint states. A woman has taken a fake Indian passport of her son at various checkpoints and borders in Moldova and Romania, including airports in Romania, Doha and New Delhi, in order for her father to allow her son to enter India.