Mumbai Court Denies Custody of 8-Year-Old Daughter to Working Mother

A Mumbai court has refused to grant interim custody of an eight-year-old daughter to her mother, who is a doctor, stating that she was living as a paying guest and would not be able to take care of the child. The father was living in a joint family with his mother, who is a political leader of a regional party in Maharashtra. The Mumbai Sessions Judge SN Salve upheld a magistrate court order, noting that the child’s mother was a working woman and would not be in a position to look after the child.

The mother had approached the sessions court after the magistrate court refused to grant her interim custody, deciding her application filed under the Domestic Violence Act.

The woman had claimed that her in-laws took her child in 2019 and then asked her to leave the house. However, an affidavit filed by the child’s father, responding to the domestic violence complaint, made allegations about the woman’s character. He also stated that the wife would have a bad influence on the minor daughter, which would jeopardize her welfare and interests.

The Sessions judge observed that the Metropolitan Magistrate rightly observed that it would not be just and proper to hand over the custody of the daughter to the woman, considering the allegations made against her character.

–Re-reported from the story originally published in India Today.