Ukrainian Woman's Minor Son, Ex-Husband Traced: Delhi Police To High Court

The Delhi Police on Monday informed the High Court that it has traced an Indian man and his three-year-old Ukrainian son, in response to a habeas corpus plea moved by the child's mother claiming that he was kidnapped and brought to India by her former husband, taking advantage of the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.

A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Amit Sharma was informed by the Indian man that the child could not be brought to court today due to ill-health. He, however, assured the bench that the boy will be present on November 16, the next date of hearing.

The hearing was also adjourned due to unavailability of the counsel appearing for the petitioner woman.

Earlier this month, the court had directed the Delhi Police to locate the Indian man, who is stated to be a doctor, and the minor boy, while issuing notice to the Centre through the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Delhi Police Commissioner and the former husband.

In the plea moved through Advocates Sravan Kumar, Medha Singh, Mohit K. Jakhar and P. Santosh Kumar, the woman has said that while the marriage between her and her former husband was solemnised in 2000, the same was dissolved in May last year by way of court decree in Ukraine.

However, the man was later granted visitation rights. Besides the three-year-old minor son, a minor girl was also born to the couple in 2002. 

The woman, who is a citizen of Ukraine, has claimed that her ex husband as usual on one evening in March took the three-year-old out for a walk, but did not return. The plea states that upon verification, the woman came to know that he along with the minor child had crossed the border and fled to India from Romania.

It is the petitioner's case that after making an online complaint to MHA and MEA through the Public Grievance platform, the MEA closed the case by stating that "Grievant is requested to approach the Court or the Ukrainian authority/govt in this matter."

It has been averred that while MHA's Foreigners Division has directed the Bureau of Immigration to take appropriate action on the grievance, neither the mother has been able to get her son back nor has any case been registered till date.

Apart from directions to produce and trace the minor son, the plea also seeks directions on CBI and Delhi Police to register criminal cases for alleged kidnapping, illegal travel of minor child without valid documents, creation of fabricated Indian passport from Ukraine by means of forgery, and causing immense pain to the minor child, mother and her daughter.