Norway court gives NRI kids’ custody to uncle

Mangalore Today / CNN-IBN

Oslo, April 23: A Norway court has given the custody of the two NRI children to their uncle. The two children - Abhigyan and Aishwarya - will reach India on Tuesday morning.

Three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya will take a flight out of Oslo to Frankfurt and then to India along with their uncle Arunabhash Bhattacharya. The two children will be raised by foster parents in India.

The Norwegian Child Welfare Services said it was in the best interest of the children if they returned to India. The two children have been in the custody of Norway’s Child Welfare Services for nearly a year.

An Indian diplomat will also accompany the children to India.

Their parents Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya were locked in a bitter custody row with authorities in Norway after the authorities cited emotional disconnect between the parents and the children while taking custody of Abhigyan and Aishwarya in May 2011.

The case saw a lot of twist and turns with the father first alleging that his wife had psychological problem while Sagarika claimed that she was not being allowed to meet the children and promised to fight for custody under Indian law.

After a bitter fight Anurup and Sagarika agreed to let go of their differences and signed an agreement which allowed Arunabhash to get custody of their two children.