Norway appeals for restraint in NRI child custody case

NEW DELHI: With India looking to take up the case of an NRI couple whose 5-year-old son was taken into custody by Norway's child protection agency Barnevernet, Norway has "requested" that restraint be exercised in the matter.
In a statement, the Norwegian embassy here said that child welfare cases were handled in accordance to the Norwegian Child Welfare Act, which included directions from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Act, it said, applied to all children in Norway, regardless of their background, residential status or citizenship.
``The basic principle of the Act is that the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. Since child welfare cases are highly sensitive, the cases are therefore subject to a strict duty of confidentiality. The Embassy, therefore, requests restraint and assures that the Norwegian authorities are dealing with the case with complete sensitivity and awareness," said the statement.
While the son, Aryan, and his father Anil Sharma are Norwegian nationals, Aryan's mother is an Indian national. ``We will represent on the request of the mother, who is an Indian national," tweeted foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, who is said to be personally monitoring the case.
The foreign ministry said that following the custody of the child by Norway’s Child Welfare Services, legal proceedings are currently underway regarding the continuation of such custody. Sharma has engaged a Norwegian lawyer to pursue the matter in court.
"Given the seriousness of the issue, should we receive a formal representation from the mother, who is an Indian national, our Embassy remains fully prepared to engage with local authorities to impress upon them that this is a humanitarian issue and that the separation of a child from his parents is a matter of distress to the entire family," said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
Anil Sharma, who is accused of beating up his kid, claims that the local authorities acted on the basis of a "fabricated complaint".
"We asked them about the proof, until now they did not manage to produce any evidence. When we inquired about the complainant, it came to our notice that the complaint was registered by a private person. This seems to be a fabricated complaint,'' said Sharma.