Progoti Basak, the maternal grandmother of the 18-month-old infant Indrashish Saha, expressed “profound relief” at the decision of a U.S. court earlier this month to grant her custody of the child.
Ms. Basak issued a statement here on Monday thanking the Ministry of External Affairs, the West Bengal government and activists in both India and U.S. for their support in the repatriation of the child. Indrashish is expected to be in the country by the month-end. The authorities took the child away in August 2012.
The family issued a statement on Monday to say that the parents “did not press for the child’s custody in the U.S. court as that would have required Indrashish to remain in interim foster care.”
Earlier this month, a local court in New Jersey had directed that the custody of the baby be handed over to Ms. Basak, a resident of Gangarampur in Uttar Dinajpur district.
“To avoid any misrepresentation of the case, we wish to clarify that no criminal case was ever brought against the parents and the father was not even at home at the time Indrashish got injured,” Ms. Basak said in the statement.
The statement also claimed that while allowing the repatriation of Indrashish, the U.S. court has also dismissed the case filed by the New Jersey Child Protection Services against his parents. Dismissing the case, the local court in New Jersey had allowed the mother (Pamela Saha) to appeal against the allegations of the New Jersey authorities, Ms. Basak said.
In the statement, she pointed out that the U.S. authorities had alleged that injuries sustained by Indrashish at his home “were deliberately caused and not sustained in an accidental fall.” The appeal was made by the mother to clear her name, the statement said.
