The Bombay high court on Wednesday refused to grant the custody of two girls rescued and rehabilitated with an NGO to their parents.
Last month, the court had expressed its apprehension in sending the girls back to their parents, as they would probably be forced into prostitution again. “We may not send the girls [back to their parents]. Their future is dear to us,” the court had said.
The girls, who were rescued from a hotel and a beach in 2006 and 2008, would be safer at the NGO, the court said. The parents — Balram and Suman Dhanavat and Shakuntala Uchiya — were seeking the custody of the girls stating that they were above 18 years of age and need not stay in the shelter home.
The court also did not grant their plea seeking the rehabilitation of the girls in an NGO in Gwalior where they hailed from. Additional public prosecutor Poornima Kantharia said that while one girl will stay at Advait Foundation in Mumbai, the other one will be sent to Prayaas, an NGO in Delhi.
Justice Ranjana Desai and justice Mridula Bhatkar had told the parents that the girls could seek some vocational training in these institutes and earn a living with dignity in the future. Both the girls in question hail from Biknapur in Gwalior and their parents were seeking their custody stating that they were not minors.
While one girl was rescued by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) from Gorai beach in 2008, the other was rescued from a hotel in 2006. Kantharia told the court that one of the girls was brought to Mumbai by her sister who was a commercial sex worker. She also said that under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 if a rescued girl turns major but requires care and protection, the CWC is empowered to retain her until she turns 20 years.
