KOLKATA: Calcutta high court, on Tuesday, granted custody of a six-year-old child to his father, who was accused by his father-in-law of marital torture and abetting the suicide of his daughter. Koustav Dey and his relatives were later acquitted by the district judge of East Midnapore. The custody of the child had initially been granted by a court in West Midnapore to the child’s maternal grandfather.

Dey, an MBA who worked for a renowned private concern, married Soma Rani Das , a schoolteacher, in December, 2007. Both were residents of West Midnapore but after marriage, the couple shifted to a rented house in Panskura, East Midnapore, where the child was born on December 4, 2008. Soma committed suicide on June 5, 2009 and her father Sudhir Chandra Das lodged an FIR against Dey and his relatives.

Das also filed an application before the district judge of West Midnapore, seeking custody of the child. Das claimed that Dey had fled the house in Panskura, leaving his seven-month child. He told the court that he was a schoolteacher and had sufficient means to raise the child. On December 1, 2009, Dey told the court that he was away in Kolkata on work when Soma committed suicide. He also alleged that theirs was a love marriage which Soma’s family never accepted. They would threaten him and Soma, he claimed, seeking rejection of Das’ application. He also told the court that Das had sent the child to Sankar Das, his other son-in-law in Raigunj without the court’s leave. In spite of all this, the court granted custody to Das. Dey was allowed visitation rights though.

Dey then moved the high court, complaining that he was not being allowed to visit his son by Das and his family. The high court appointed a special officer to restore Dey’s visitation rights and sent back the matter to the trial court with observations. The high court observed that the district judge had not made it clear why Dey couldn’t be granted custody. The division bench also pointed out that a mere criminal case against him was not ground enough to deny custody of his own child.

While all this was on, the district judge of East Midnapore acquitted Dey and his family members. The special officer also reported to the high court that Das’ home wasn’t conducive for proper growth of the child. Das apparently has a photograph of his daughter hanging from the ceiling which is likely to affect the child adversely.

“It is unfortunate that Das tried to feed fat to his grudge against Dey by playing with the tender mind of the minor. Children are assets of the Nation. They are the future citizens of India. Vengeful attitude of such minor would ultimately be counter productive to society. Admittedly, Das treated the minor in such a manner so as to inject a sense of revenge in his tender mind against his father and thereby tried to train the minor to be the most hostile person on earth against Dey. This state of affairs is not at all congenial to the proper mental development of the minor. We are of considered view that the custody of the minor should be with Dey and not Das,” the division bench of Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya and Justice Debi Prosad Dey observed. The order has been stayed for four weeks to allow Das to move an appeal in the Supreme Court.