Norway custody row: Uncle to get custody of kids,return to India

The Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS) has decided to give the custody of the two children of  NRI couple Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya to their paternal uncle and will allow him to take them back to India. [caption id=“attachment_228259” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The Child Welfare Service said they will have follow up procedures in place to safeguard the interest of the children. Screengrab from IBNlive.”] [/caption] According to NDTV, a release from the CWS stated,“This week the Child Welfare Service in Stavanger completed its talks with the uncle in the child welfare case concerning two Indian children. It has been concluded that care of the two children should be awarded to the brother of the children’s father enabling him to take the children back to India.” They have said that the Child Welfare Service will ensure the necessary legal framework and follow-up procedures are in place to to safeguard the interest of the children. The solution proposed by the authority is to be presented to Stavanger District Court on March 23, which will take the final decision on the custody in the case. However, the court is not expected to oppose this recommendation. The children, three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya, were taken away from the custody of the Bhattacharyas by the Norwegian CWS in May 2011. The recommendation by the CWS comes after the Indian government sent a special envoy to negotiate with Norwegian authorities about the delay in handing over the custody of  the children to their relatives. The grandparents of the children have been protesting outside the Norwegian embassy in Delhi  and met Foreign Minister S M Krishna today. The grandparents had expressed confidence with the steps being taken by the Indian government.