Indian High Commission in London looking into child custody case

April 08, 2013 11:43 pm | Updated December 04, 2021 11:40 pm IST - LONDON:

The Indian High Commission here was on Monday trying to gather facts after an Indian couple complained that their child had been taken away by social services over allegations of abuse.

Rajat Puri and his wife Shruti, who live in Oxford, were reported as saying that their five-year-old son Achintya was taken away by social services last month after he was believed to have said that his father was doing “bad things”. The school called the police who alerted the social services believing that the boy was referring to sexual or physical abuse.

The couple denied the allegation and claimed that the child might have meant his father’s smoking habit. They claimed that there was a misunderstanding and child’s reference to “bad things” was misinterpreted by the council.

“Our child is in a bad state. He has been crying and begging to be sent back home because he is scared of being shut up in a dark room every night,” said the child’s mother Shrut.Mr. Puri, a software programmer originally from Punjab, believes it is a case of cultural misunderstanding.

“They simply don’t understand the difference between the Indian and British culture. Their style of upbringing is totally different from our culture,” he said.The couple was reported to have written to Prime Minister David Cameron, who is also their local MP.

In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs said it was awaiting a detailed report from the High Commission in London. “We are awaiting a detailed report from our High Commission on what exactly is the situation and what needs to be done,” the Press Trust of India quoted Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai as saying.

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