Sunday, February 26, 2012

Working mom has no time for child - custody given to Father

Working mom has no time for child - custody given to Father

There is a recent contrasting news from the same court...available here http://newsmanthan.blogspot.in/2012/02/working-mothers-can-have-childs-custody.html   )  Please take a note of the age of the child and the circumstances which are different in the two cases dealing with working mother

RULE: Available parent gets child custody of 5 yr old child.
(Working parent has no time to devote for the upbringing)

BOMBAY HIGH COURT
C.A. NO.82 OF 2004
IN
FAMILY COURT APPEAL NO.57 OF 2004

SOU. HEMA RAVISHANKAR (Applicant- wife)
Vs.
K.R. RAVISHANKAR

CORAM: S.B. MHASE AND R.S. MOHITE, JJ.
DATED: 18.10.2004

CITATION: 2004(1) ALL.M.R.124
2004(3)BOM C.R.143
STATUS: DISPOSED
ACT: HINDU MARRIAGE ACT

My short description of the judgement:
Typical background of cruelty etc. No criminal cases. Divorce granted by family court. Mother of 8 yr old boy (Age at the time of order), is working as lecturer in Mumbai from morning till late afternoon. during this time the child is left to the care of maid-servant. Mother earns more than father of child. Paternal grandparents available to look after the child. Allegations made by mother - child abuse by paternal grandfather of child. HC disbelieved this. Sister of mother lives as neighbour of mother. Father working as consultant from home in Pune.
Child wanted to continue staying with mother.
Child custody granted to father.
:-)

******
NEWS IN MEDIA

'Working mom has no time for child'

Dated - Date:  2004-10-25

Hema (right) will now move the Supreme Court to try and gain custody of her son, Srikrishna (left)
 

The Bombay High Court has denied child custody to a divorced woman on the grounds that she is a working mother. 

While granting child custody to her former husband, the court ruled that even though she earned more, she did not have the necessary time to devote to their eight-year-old child. 

Last week the division bench of judges R S Mohite and S B Mhase granted custody of Srikrishna Ravishankar to his father K R Ravishankar (37), on the condition that the man move in with his parents, who can then look after their grandchild. 

Till now, the mother, Hema Ravishankar (33), a lecturer at H R College, Churchgate, would entrust the boy with a servant, while she was away at work. 

Hema said that as her parents died when she was a child, her sister and her brother-in-law have helped look after Srikrishna. 

She added that from the next academic year shed have been able to spend even more time with her son as the boys school timings wouldve coincided with hers. 

However, the judges observed, It would be better if the child is kept with the father and grandparents rather than abandon him to the care of the servant during the day, while the mother is out on her job.

Said Hema, I am sad at this ruling. I have looked after my child very well all these years and, being a lecturer, I have to put in only five hours of work. 

Moreover, this is one of the few professions where one can enjoy three vacations. She has decided to appeal to the Supreme Court against the ruling. 

The judges also stressed that even though Hema earned more (Rs 17,000 per month) as compared to her former husband (Rs 10,000), the father could still take care of the child. 

Hema and her husband had filed for divorce four years ago, at which time she also filed a dowry charge against her husband. Srikrishna has been living with his mother ever since. The divorce finally came through this month. 

Ironically, the judgment comes only a few months after an extensive study on women and parenting, which concluded that working mothers make better mothers than the non-working counterpart. 

The study titled General Role and Belief and Stress in Working Women, was conducted by the Sophia Centre for Women Studies and Development, in March this year on a sample size of 300 women. 

Beside other inferences, the study rules that children raised by working mothers turn out to be more confident, articulate and learn to share (if kept in a crche). 

Naina Rao Athalye, who conducted the study said: If the mother is working, the child gets exposed to a wider world as the mother brings home varied experiences.

Says Anu Shreenivasan, lecturer, Sophia College, I have brought up my daughter single-handedly. I think by being a lecturer, I was able to spend quality time with my daughter. 

Adds Hema, Its completely unfair to a mother. This is a blow to every woman in this country and I will find out what my rights as a woman are. 

When contacted, the father, K R Ravishankar, said that he would not comment as the matter was sub-judice.
What the child says
Srikrishna has been living with his mother and his maternal aunt. He is in Std IV at the Vivek Vidyalaya in Goregaon. 

The legal battle has taken a toll on the child too. Srikrishna has been interviewed on seven different occasions in the last four years and in one of the interviews he said that he preferred to stay with his mother. 

In yet another interview, he accused his paternal grandfather of sexually abusing him four years ago. 

These allegations were never made in the Family Court and the high court believes that Hema Ravishankar tutored her son to make up the allegations since a child would not be able to remember such an occurrence when he was only four years old.

Hence, the allegations were thought to be false and were not considered in the ruling.

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