When a TCS techie V. Chandrasekhar and his wife Anupama were summoned to court on November 26 and 27, little did they know about the travails that were in store for them. At the end of the hearing in an Oslo court, they were taken into custody by the Norwegian police on November 28, on charges of trying to instill ‘discipline’ in their seven year-old son Sai Sriram.
Nine months ago, the little boy is said to have told his teachers in school that his parents had threatened to send him back to India if his ‘bed-wetting’ did not stop. When the school informed the concerned department in the Norwegian Government and the police, a case was registered against the couple for violation of ‘child rights’.
In February this year, the child was taken into custody and spent six weeks with the child welfare department there.
After finding an ‘improvement’ and with some counselling, the seven year-old was returned to his parents. In June this year, the couple came to India with Sai Sriram and his younger brother and were enrolled in a school in Hyderabad. Since then Mr. Chandrasekhar was visiting India frequently as his wife was taking care of the children.
When the Court summons was received by Mr. Chandrasekhar, his wife flew to Oslo on November 23, said Sailender, a nephew of Mr. Chandrasekhar.
“We were told late on November 28 that the couple had been taken into custody and that the Court would hear the case again on Monday, December 3. We have no other information and are worried as to what will happen now,” he told The Hindu on Friday evening.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Norway has offered to provide consular help to the couple, who is also in the process of filing an appeal through a lawyer in Oslo. More details are awaited in the matter and the Indian Embassy is in touch with the lawyer, a PTI report said.
Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday evening asked Chief Secretary Minnie Mathews to contact the Norwegian Government and secure the release of the couple who hail from Hanuman Junction in Krishna district.
The experience of Mrs. Anupama and Mr. Chandrasekhar comes about a year-and-a-half after another issue involving an Indian couple and their children.
Abhigyan (3) and Aishwarya (4) were taken away from their parents - Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, by Norway’s Child Welfare Society in May last year on grounds of ‘emotional disconnect’.
On Indian diplomatic push and the Norwegian Government’s intervention, a Norway court in April last ended the custody row.
