Norway NRI couple case: After three months, parents finally meet children

Stavanger, February 18,2012: After a three-month long wait, a non-resident Indian couple – Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya – today finally met their children. According to media reports, the meeting which began at around 1430 hrs IST, lasted for approximately two hours. The parents, along with uncle Arunabhash met the children. The three-year-old Abhigyan and the one-year-old Aishwarya, children of the NRI couple living in Stavanger, Norway, were taken under protective care by Barnevarne (Norwegian Child Welfare Services) in
   
May last year on grounds that they were not looked after properly by their parents. Barnevarne had placed them in foster parental care as per the directive of the local Norwegian court, mandated under Norwegian laws.An agreement was struck recently between India and Norway under which the parents named Anurup’s brother Arunabhash Bhattacharya as the primary caretaker of the two children. Arunabhash is currently in Norway and is being looked after the Norwegian authorities. Earlier, India Wednesday summoned Norwegian ambassador Ann Ollestad and pushed for an expeditious solution to the custody row involving two NRI children, who who were taken away by Norwegian Child Welfare Services, on grounds of emotional disconnect. The Norwegian ambassador met Secretary (West) M. Ganapathi, Syed Akbaruddin, the external affairs ministry’s spokesperson, told reporters.