THE FATE of two Non-Resident Indian (NRI) children, presently under foster care in Oslo, is expected to be decided on Monday (April 23) by a Norwegian court, which on Tuesday (April 17) heard the child welfare services’ plea for sending them back to India.
The final judgment in the case is expected on April 23, official sources said, adding that senior officials from India’s ministry of external affairs were present to assist the Norwegian government in the case.
Three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya were taken away from their parents -Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya – by Norwegian authorities in May last year on grounds of “emotional disconnect”.
Since then the case has taken various turns and the last court hearing was postponed in view of reports that the parents have filed for divorce. However, the parents denied this.
Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had taken up the matter with his Norwegian counterpart during the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul last month.
Dr Singh had said India was keen to find an “amicable” and “good” solution to the custody battle of the two young Indian children within the ambit of the law.
India has been maintaining from the beginning that the children need to be sent back to the country.
