Aastha Thakur
Published on: 30 October 2022 at 18:59 IST
The Kerala High Court recently ruled that as per Indian concept, a female family is always needed to look after children.
The observation was made by the Divisional Bench of Justices Alexander Thomas and Sophy Thomas who were dealing with a habeas corpus petition filed by a father who claims his 4-year-old daughter has been illegally detained by his in-laws.
The court noted that its necessary to have women figure all the time at home, it can be either mother, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, grandmother, someone to look after the young ones.
The bench compared significance on women’s child raising roles in India with other nations’ more fair responsibilities sharing systems, especially those in Scandinavia.
Bench further orally commented that, “We have not reached the level of Scandinavian countries where you have same sex marriage and everybody is equipped to rear children. Men, women, and everyone looks after children and they divide their time and energy for that. In Indian scenario, when the children are very young, the most important thing is that a woman is at home,”
Moreover, the court also delved upon its worries regarding the well-being of the child. The court gave the explanation that it is very difficult for a single parent to look after a child below age of 10.
“You will be going to work and children can get exposed to so many dangerous things. Nowadays sexual violence is increasing even against young children, some children below the age of 2 years. It may not be a frequent occurrence but safety of the child is very importance. Especially if you are living in a faraway State in a remote town,“.
The court hereby noted that the petitioner at present times is residing in Gujarat and there is nothing to show that there is any close female companion residing with petitioner to look after the child.
The court explicitly clarified that to not expect decision based on merit. Further putting the safety & welfare of the child first, the bench suggested that petitioner can come from Gujarat as for custodial visit and also can have weekly video calls with his daughter.
The bench also asked questions such as, “Who will take care of the minor? You are a 38-year-old man living alone and you will take care of a four-year-old child and that too a girl child? No sensible court will allow that request,”
The court also suggested that the petitioner settle the custody dispute in a Family Court rather than attempting to turn a habeas corpus procedure into a custody dispute because it could not find any obvious illegality with the petitioner’s minor daughter living with her grandparents.
The issue will be discussed once more the following week when the Court video calls the minor child’s grandparents.