NRI Husband Wins Custody Battle for Two Minor Kids in Hyderabad

A London-based Non-Resident Indian (NRI) won a custody battle for their two minor kids against his wife after the Hyderabad High Court ruled in his favor.

The Hyderabad High Court, presided over by the bench of Justices CV Nagarjuna Reddy and Justice G Shyam Prasad, told the husband to provide for a decent education for the couple’s sons in London. The court was overseeing this custody battle for over six months, the Times of India reported.

The husband has been working in London for past 14 years as a physiotherapy team manager in UK’s National Health Services. The couple got married in 2009, following which the wife moved to London. Their sons were born in 2011 and 2015.

However, the wife lodged a complaint with London police on May 3 last year, accusing her husband of domestic violence. He was arrested following the complaint and was granted bail from judicial custody 24 hours later on the condition that he would not stay in their house for four weeks.

In these four weeks, the wife  returned to her parents’ house at Madanapalle in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh with their sons. As the husband sought divorce and custody of the children, she opposed the plea. She also opposed the UK court’s ruling to bring the children back to the country by saying that legal proceedings filed against her after she left the United Kingdom are not binding on her.

After reviewing the case, the Hyderabad High Court concluded that allegations of injuries inflicted by her husband to her and her children were uncorroborated. Keeping with the fact that the children were born and raised in the United Kingdom and the chances of better higher education for them there, the court directed the wife to hand over the custody of her children to her husband.

The bench gave her visiting rights that she can avail as she feels like, and directed the husband to deposit Rs 5 lakh with her for the express purpose of these rights. The wife has expressed hesitation in using this right.

This case comes as Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has been pushing for a registrar that documents all NRI marriages so as to tackle issues of NRI husbands abandoning or mistreating their wives.