Norway children custody case: Wife accuses husband of torture

Click to play video

New Delhi: The case of the custody of two NRI kids Abhigyan and Aishwarya in Norway has taken another ugly turn. The children's mother Sagarika Bhattacharya has now accused her husband Anurup Bhattacharya of torturing her. "Anurup tortured me and deleted all my contacts, asked me to leave home. I left home on Monday and I'm not staying with Anurup for the past few days. I am staying with a friend," Sagarika said.

She alleged that Anurup was forcing her to sign an agreement.

"The agreement says the children will stay with the uncle and guardian given if we (Anurup and Sagarika) as the parents choose not to live together, separate or divorce. This agreement will not be challenged by us or our relatives before any court or before any authority or institution," Sagarika claimed.

Sagarika said she did not approve of the agreement, but her husband was forcing her to sign it. "Anurup says if I don't sign the paper, his brother will not take the responsibility of the children and will go back to India," she said.

She also added that CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat has asked her not to sign that agreement.

Sagarika, however, denied reports of Anurup pressing for separation.

The maternal grandfather of the children has also claimed that Sagarika was a victim of domestic violence.

He said he wanted Sagarika to return to India as he feared for her life.

"I will fight for my grandchildren as well, but my priority is Sagarika's safety," the children's grandfather said.

The grandfather said he was willing to be the new guardian of the children and that he could take care of his grandchildren even if their uncle Arunabhash backs out.

This came two days after there were reports of the children's father Anurup Bhattacharya accusing Sagarika of domestic violence. He, however, denied putting any allegations on his wife later.

Earlier on Wednesday, a diplomat from the Indian embassy in Oslo met the father and uncle of the two children Abhigyan and Aishwarya in Stavenger on Wednesday. They told him that the uncle is willing to take custody of the children and the father Anurup Bhattacharya regretted his outburst in the media on his marital dispute, saying he was stressed.

The father Anurup Bhattacharya and uncle have also pleaded with Norway's Child Welfare Services to revert to the earlier arrangement.

But the Chlid Welfare Service appears unwilling to trust them for now. It has said the children won't be allowed to return to India.

The hearing on a final agreement in the Norway custody case scheduled for March 23 was also cancelled.

The Norwegian Child Welfare Services claim that the NRI parents Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya and the paternal uncle, who was to be made guardian of the two kids, have changed their position several times in recent days.

Norway has said that they won't give the two children Abhigyan and Aishwarya to their uncle even if he is willing to. Gunnar Toresen, head of the Norway Child Welfare Services said, "The parents and uncle have changed their position many times in the recent days. The Child Welfare Service is no longer confident that they want to enter into a genuine agreement. Even if the family comes to an agreement now, the children could be caught up in a very unfortunate tug of war in India."

There were reports their uncle refused to take the custody of the two children after reports of marital dispute between Anurup and Sagarika.

Anurup had alleged his wife Sagarika had a psychological problem. However, after reports that Anurup had accused his wife Sagarika of marital violence, he denied the allegations and also blamed the media for distorting the facts.

The two children have been in foster care since May, 2011 with the Norwegian child services worried about their safety. The two were expected to return to Kolkata within days, but may now continue to live in Norway.