AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court ordered an
orphanage to return to a man his love child, after he temporarily lost custody of her because his mother surreptitiously left the baby at an orphanage when he was hospitalized with Covid-19. Upon discharge, the mother had told the
child had died.
The case involves a 35-year old from Kheda, who had an extramarital affair with a woman in Ahmedabad. They had a daughter in July. His girlfriend agreed to hand over custody of the child to him. He and his wife brought the child to Kheda. His mother, however, was not comfortable with the love child. Five days after the child came home, the man tested Covid-19 positive and was hospitalized, on August 1. When he returned after two weeks, his mother told him the child died because of ill health. He did not believ her and launched a search. He found his mother had placed the child with the Mahipatram Rupram Ashram at Raipur in Ahmedabad.
To return to him custody of his daughter, ashram authorities asked him to get a written order from police. When cops did not come to his aid, he moved the high court through advocate A S Timbalia, who produced details including laboratory results showing a DNA match establishing the five-month-old baby was his daughter. The biological mother had no issue if the child was handed over to the father.
After due verification, the HC ordered the ashram to hand over the child to the father.