Madras High Court Gives Custody Of 10-Year-Old Girl To Adoptive Mother, Permits Parents For Weekend Visits

A division bench of Justices PN Prakash and R Hemalatha took up the case for hearing on November 23 and said that it is not legal to send the child to a reception home since she is not an orphan. 

Chennai: The Madras High Court handed over the custody of a 10-year-old girl to her adoptive mother while permitting her biological mother to get unrestricted access to meet the child on weekends, putting an end to an emotional battle between two sisters-in-law in Tamil Nadu. 

According to a report on The New Indian Express, the biological parents--Sivakumar and Saranya--gave their 3.5 year-old daughter for adoption to Sivakumar's sister Sathya, who was childless. However, Sathya's husband Ramesh died in 2019 due to an illness after which the couple demanded the girl back. 

But when Sathya refused, Saranya lodged a complaint with Salem Commissioner of Police. The Commissioner forwarded the complaint to All Women Police Station in Ammapet and they forwarded it to Child Welfare Committee, who handed over the girl to a Reception Home. 

Following this, both Saranya and Sathya filed separate habeas corpus petitions to the Madras High Court on October 29 seeking custody of the child. Based on the plea, a division bench of Justices PN Prakash and R Hemalatha took up the case for hearing on November 23 and said that it is not legal to send the child to a reception home since she is not an orphan. 

The Court in its order asked the child to be handed over to her adoptive mother Sathya and permitted the biological parents to visit her on weekends.