Sherin Mathew murder: Parents denied access to biological daughter

Last year, Sherin was adopted by the Indian-American couple from an Indian orphanage and on October 22 her dead body was found 1 km from her home

Image: Facebook Richardson Police Department

New Delhi: In the Sherin Mathew murder case, the state convinced a judge that the NRI couple is not fit to be parents due to what happened to Sherin and shouldn't be able to visit their biological daughter. The 4-year-old will remain to live with her relatives outside Houston. The court was also told by a doctor that she had a series of broken bones and injuries in various stages of healing. The Sini and Wesley have not lost parental rights, but they will not receive help from the state to regain custody of their daughter, the judge said. The couple were expected to either surrender their parental rights to their 4-year-old daughter or have them terminated by the state during the initial hearing. On October 7, Wesley had called the police and reported Sherin missing. He had initially told police that Sherin disappeared overnight after he ordered her to stand outside at about 3 am for not drinking her milk. When he returned, Wesley said she had disappeared and that her location was unknown. She was found dead in a culvert about 1 km from her home on October 22. Wesley, 37, has been charged with felony injury to a child and her mother, Sini, 35, was arrested later and charged with child endangerment. Last year, she was adopted by the Indian-American couple, Wesley and Sini Mathews, from an orphanage in India. The father, Wesley, was arrested and charged with felony injury to a child, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison. He is still in the Dallas County jail on a USD 1 million bond. (with input from agencies)