The Supreme Court has allowed the murder accused to visit her daughter, who is accused of killing her mother. The court said it was better to maintain her relationship with a six-year-old girl, especially if the allegations had not yet been proven.
The bench, headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, called the situation “difficult” and the girl had filed her statement in January 2020 as an eyewitness to the murder of her mother in Bhiwani, Haryana. However, he later made a separate statement before a judge at the Rajasthan High Court where his maternal grandfather demanded his custody. In her statement, the girl told the High Court that her father may not have been responsible for her mother’s death.
Although the girl was accused of helping her grandparents strangle her mother, the trial court found no evidence against the grandparents and they were acquitted last year, she said. Due to the girl’s testimony, the father has been charged with murder for dowry under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code. In his order last month, the court said he was out on bail.
The court has said how much trust can be placed in the situation in front of the girl. The magistrate had found that both parties — the mother and the father — could teach the child from their respective perspectives. However, we are concerned about protecting the interests of a girl who is already suffering from the death of her mother, the court said. For proper custody of a girl, it is advisable to maintain a relationship with her father during this period, as this matter is under consideration.
The tribunal said it was good to have a conversation between the girl, her father and her grandfather. The girl will be pursued in Rajasthan with her maternal grandfather and maternal uncle, the court said. Thus, the court again remanded the case to the Rajasthan High Court and ordered that the custody of the girl child remain with the neighboring people, but there should be a proper mechanism to displace the rights of the father and grandmother of the child.
Originally, the court heard the application of the father and the parents of the girl who sought custody of the girl. The court concluded that it was not prudent to disturb custody, but admitted that the girl must have had an affair with her father and paternal grandparents.
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