MUMBAI: A three-year-old snatched from his mother’s hand outside a city pre-school in July by his estranged father, was traced by Mumbai police to Tamil Nadu and brought back within four days of a Bombay high court order last month. The HC heaped praise on sub-inspector Kiran Nawale, 31, and his team for “prompt action” in getting the child back. The HC had set a six-day deadline for police to produce the child. The team from Wadala TT police station completed the task in four, reuniting the child with the mother.
The ordeal for the family began on July 13 when at around noon, the mother, residing with her parents following marital disputes, left for the international pre-school to drop the child. Her husband of four and half years, an IT professional, showed up as she got there and “snatched” the child from her hand and fled with his brother on a scooter. The father had earlier filed a child custody plea before the family court and an application for restitution of conjugal rights. Both were pending.
In a tizzy, the mother went to the police, who did not lodge a kidnap complaint as the child was with the father but tried contacting him and her father-in-law. They found the house in Mumbai locked and phones switched off. The father, however, sent an email to the mother saying he was taking the child to Velankanni for baptism and would return in a few weeks, apologising for not informing her and asking her not to take legal action.
The police said the father was travelling 4-5 km away from his house in TN before making calls from a cell phone, and later switching it off. In any case, the SIM card was not in his name, police had found. But tracking the numbers he called, Nawale said they zeroed in on a real estate broker who had helped him get a house on rent in TN. Soon the police showed up with the court order at his door and the search ended. Police had taken along the child’s maternal granddad to ensure the child felt secure on the ride back home by train. Initially, the police had declined to lodge any case since child was with the father, said the woman’s plea. So the mother had moved a magistrate under section 97 of CrPC which empowers the court to issue a search warrant for a person wrongfully confined. The magistrate on July 19 ordered cops to search.
On July 17 the mother sought orders from the family court too for restoration of custody. When the Bandra family court directed the father to remain present on July 24 with the child, neither he nor his lawyer had turned up. The matter was adjourned to July 31 when the court directed that the child’s physical custody be restored to the mother in eight days. The mother, through advocate I S Nirmale, had filed the habeas corpus (a writ to produce a person held unlawfully) petition before the HC.
The ordeal for the family began on July 13 when at around noon, the mother, residing with her parents following marital disputes, left for the international pre-school to drop the child. Her husband of four and half years, an IT professional, showed up as she got there and “snatched” the child from her hand and fled with his brother on a scooter. The father had earlier filed a child custody plea before the family court and an application for restitution of conjugal rights. Both were pending.
In a tizzy, the mother went to the police, who did not lodge a kidnap complaint as the child was with the father but tried contacting him and her father-in-law. They found the house in Mumbai locked and phones switched off. The father, however, sent an email to the mother saying he was taking the child to Velankanni for baptism and would return in a few weeks, apologising for not informing her and asking her not to take legal action.
The police said the father was travelling 4-5 km away from his house in TN before making calls from a cell phone, and later switching it off. In any case, the SIM card was not in his name, police had found. But tracking the numbers he called, Nawale said they zeroed in on a real estate broker who had helped him get a house on rent in TN. Soon the police showed up with the court order at his door and the search ended. Police had taken along the child’s maternal granddad to ensure the child felt secure on the ride back home by train. Initially, the police had declined to lodge any case since child was with the father, said the woman’s plea. So the mother had moved a magistrate under section 97 of CrPC which empowers the court to issue a search warrant for a person wrongfully confined. The magistrate on July 19 ordered cops to search.
On July 17 the mother sought orders from the family court too for restoration of custody. When the Bandra family court directed the father to remain present on July 24 with the child, neither he nor his lawyer had turned up. The matter was adjourned to July 31 when the court directed that the child’s physical custody be restored to the mother in eight days. The mother, through advocate I S Nirmale, had filed the habeas corpus (a writ to produce a person held unlawfully) petition before the HC.
