A Muslim man was granted custody of his Hindu daughter, by a local court, whom he had brought up as his own after finding her abandoned on a railway station.
AHMEDABAD: A Muslim man was granted custody of his Hindu daughter, by a local court here, whom he had brought up as his own after finding her abandoned on a railway station 13 years ago.
Judge H K Ghayal of the fast track court in Bharuch, while pronouncing the judgement recently, observed that Sarfaraz Kadri, the foster father, does not have a criminal record and the girl, Varsha Patel alias Munni (18), staying with him was not held against her will.
The court set aside previous order of the chief judicial megistrate, Bhrauch, which had denied custody of Varsha to Kadri.
After over six months of legal battle, Kadri, now a resident of Ramol area in the city, was awarded the custody of Varsha by the Bharuch Fast track court which said that it was the will of the girl to stay with her foster father.
According to an affidavit filed in the court by Kadri, a small time magician by profession, he had found six-year-old Varsha abandoned at the Itarsi railway station in Madhya Pradesh 13 years ago. He had gone for a magic show in a school there.
When Kadri asked Varsha about her parents, she did not have any answer, so he brought her with him to Tankaria village in Bhrauch, where he used to live then.
Varsha only remebered her biological father's name, but has no memory of her other family members.
A few years after Varsha was brought to Tankaria village, a brother-sister duo who were distant relatives of Kadri came to live with him from Madhya Pradesh.
It was later found that the duo had run away from their home and a police complaint in this regard was launched by their parents.
Six months ago, when the police team came seaching for the two, they came to know about Varsha and since Kadri was not able to produce any adoption papers the police sent her to women's protection home in Bharuch.
Since then Kadri had been fighting a legal battle to get custody of the girl whom he had brought up as his own.
According to Kadri's lawyer, Anees Desai, who had helped him fight the custody case, said that they are now trying to get legal adoption papers ready for Varsha.
"Now with the court also recognising the relation between Kadri and Varsha, we have started the process of legal adoption. We will be studying the legalities of adoption process and file appropiate papers with the authorities soon," Desai said.
"Though adoption in India is not an easy job, but we will try our best," he added.
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