Indian apex court denies custody of Atul Subhash's son to grandmother, says she is 'stranger' to child
India News | Trending: The Supreme Court's directive for the child's presence at the next hearing highlights the importance of firsthand testimony and ensures the child's voice is heard directly.
Weeks after the suspense regarding the four-year-old child of the Indian techie Atul Subhash, who died by suicide alleging harassment by his wife and in-laws, it was revealed that the child is in a boarding school in Haryana's Faridabad on Tuesday (Jan 7). Subhash, the Bengaluru techie from the Indian state of Karnataka, died by suicide on December 9, 2024, after alleging harassment from his wife and in-laws in a video and suicide note.
The child's whereabouts were revealed after Subhash's mother demanded his custody from the Supreme Court of India. The lawyer of Subhash's wife, Nikita Singhania, told the apex court that the child will be shifted to Bengaluru to live with his mother.
The lawyer added that the child was enrolled in the boarding school during his mother's arrest and has been living there since then. But now, when Nikita is out on bail but is directed to stay in Bengaluru only, the child will be shifted to the city.
However, the court has directed that the child must be in court during the next hearing of the case.
Criticising the act of sending the child below the age of six years to a boarding school, the lawyer representing Subhash's mother, Anju Devi, said the custody of the child should be given to his grandmother. But the court rejected Anju Devi's demand, saying that as the child has spent barely any time with his grandmother, she is a "stranger" to the child. Devi's mother responded with the argument that there are multiple pictures of the grandmother interacting with the child when he was two years old.
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The court said Nikita is yet to be proven guilty, and the court can't take the decision based on a "media trial". The court said the custody case would have to be taken to the appropriate court where the trial is on.
The next hearing of the case is on January 20.
Subhash's allegations
Subhash died in December, leaving an 81-minute video and a 24-page suicide note accusing that his wife and in-laws harassed him and filed fake cases of dowry while demanding an unreasonable amount to settle the then-ongoing divorce case.
His wife, Nikita, and her mother and brother were arrested on December 14, 2024, and were released on Jan 4 on bail.
(With inputs from agencies)
