The Bombay High Court directed a father to hand over custody of his one-year-old daughter to her mother. Justices S. V. Kotwal and Sandesh Patil noted the child is breastfeeding, stating, “The child is dependent on the mother to some extent on breastfeeding.”
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has ordered a man to surrender custody of his one-year-old daughter to his estranged wife, stating that the child’s welfare favored placement with the mother because she is still being breastfed.
A bench of Justices S V Kotwal and Sandesh Patil noted that the woman had been forced to leave the marital home after being assaulted, and that her sister-in-law had taken the child, preventing the mother from taking the baby with her.
The court said,
“The child is dependent on the mother to some extent on breastfeeding. This is an important consideration,”
The ruling came on a habeas corpus petition filed by the woman seeking her daughter’s return. She asserted that she left the home to protect herself after being physically attacked by her husband and sister-in-law last month. Since then, the child has been in the father’s custody.
According to the petition, the couple married in 2023 and the woman has faced physical, emotional and mental cruelty during the marriage. She asked the court to direct the husband to deliver custody of their daughter to her, highlighting that the child was still breastfeeding and needed her mother.
The husband contested the plea, claiming his wife left voluntarily and refused to live with him. He argued the child’s welfare would be better served with him because he is the earner and, under the law, the father is also a natural guardian.
The high court, however, observed that because the father works, he would be less able to care for the child, whereas the mother now residing with her parents would be better positioned to look after the infant. The bench also considered WhatsApp messages from the husband to his wife containing abusive and filthy language.
The court said,
“There is substance in the allegations of the woman that she was forced to leave her matrimonial house as she was scared for her safety,”
It further noted that the daughter had been taken from her by the sister-in-law, meaning the mother did not voluntarily leave the child with the in-laws.
The court emphasized that the child’s best interests must be paramount, and concluded that those interests required that custody be returned to the mother. The bench directed the Vikhroli police in Mumbai to take the child from the father and hand her over to the mother.
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