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Stop using kids as pawns, family court judge tells parents

In a case involving the custody of a five-year-old child for the vacation period, the custodian parent, the child's mother approached the family court pleading that it alter its earlier order asking her to hand over the child's custody to the father for a brief period during the vacation.

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Coming down heavily on a divorced woman, the family court on earlier this week observed that divorced couples often use their kids as "pawns" to deprive the other parent access to his/her child.

In a case involving the custody of a five-year-old child for the vacation period, the custodian parent, the child's mother approached the family court pleading that it alter its earlier order asking her to hand over the child's custody to the father for a brief period during the vacation. In an application to the court, the woman claimed that her estranged husband cannot take proper care of their son and on the contrary makes him utter bad words. "On the last occasion, when the child was handed over to the man, he made the child walk on barefeet. Also he (the father) goes off to work from 8am till 11pm. There is no one to be with the son and thus there was no point giving access of the child to the father," she said in her petition, which was duly opposed by her ex-husband.

The husband claimed that he can take good care of the child and that he was entitled to spend half of the vacation time with his son. However, on the day of handing over, the boy's mother's advocate called the father's advocate saying that she prefers filing a review of the court's order since the boy is undergoing trauma.

Principal judge Dr Laxmi Rao remained unconvinced. After going through the applications, he maintained that the woman was not in compliance with the court's order of handing over the child's custody to the father despite repeated instructions for the same. "Unless she complies with the court's order, she cannot seek to review the order," the judge said in his order. "The child is used like a pawn... It is time and again observed in this court that the custodial parent is always depriving the other parent of reasonable access to the child, without realising that the child needs both parents for its wholesome upbringing into a good adult. In view thereof, I am of the view that the family court is taking tremendous efforts to try for smooth access of the child to the non-custodial parent, periodically at least."

He further pointed out the irony in cases of divorced parents stating that custodial parents promptly seek maintenance amount but when it comes to giving access of the child to the non-custodial parent, the person finds creative ways and means to avoid and delay the access. The court firmly asked the woman to hand over the custody of the child to his father for some time.

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