Russian Woman Flees with Child Amidst Custody Battle
New Delhi: Noting the Supreme Court’s observation regarding a child custody battle involving a Russian citizen, the Russian Embassy in India said in a statement on Saturday that “it is fulfilling its primary duties to ensure and defend the rights and legitimate interests of Russian citizens in full compliance with Indian legislation.”
It was stated that the embassy was in close contact with the competent Indian authorities regarding Russian citizen Victoria Basu, who was involved in the custody battle in India and accused of taking the child from her Indian father and running away.
While hearing the matter, the SC expressed concern over sincere efforts to trace the Russian woman who fled to Moscow with her child amid a bitter custody battle with her estranged Indian husband. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi stressed the need for proper coordination, noting the diplomatic challenge for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Indian Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Embassy in Delhi to find a solution to the issue and take steps to return the child to the custody of the apex court. The court stated that it did not want to pass any decision that could harm India-Russia relations.
The SC noted that a report by the MEA stated that the embassy had already reached out to the attorney general’s office for assistance and cooperation on the basis of the principles of reciprocity and courtesy, and the new requests under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) were forwarded to the Russian prosecutor general’s office through the Indian embassy in Moscow on October 17.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who attended the centre, said that the MEA is coordinating with Delhi Police through the MLAT channel to conduct further investigations against others involved in the incident, including Nepali nationals. Noting the complicity of Russian embassy officials in helping the Russian woman escape the country with her child via Nepal and Sharjah in the UAE, the bench said Delhi Police had sent notice to Russian officials seeking more information but this did not yield any concrete results.
The Russian embassy said that the media reports were not factual and were based on speculation.
The child’s father is fighting for custody of the child with an estranged Russian woman and claims that the woman did not comply with the court’s decision on custody of the little child.
The man claimed that the whereabouts of the woman and her child were unknown.
“We do not want to pass any order that could harm the relationship between India and Russia, but this is also a matter involving the child. We can hope that the child is well and healthy, just like his mother. I hope the situation is not human trafficking…” the bench told Bhati. Bhati said he personally met with Russian embassy officials, but no significant progress was made.
“Despite various efforts, we were blocked in terms of information coming from Russia,” he said.
