Tangail child will be in aunt’s custody till further order: HC

The High Court today ruled that Angshuman Dey, an 18-month-old child of Tangail, will remain in the custody of its maternal aunt Shova Rani Guho until its further order.

The court also exonerated Nure Alam Siddique, executive magistrate of “Ka” region of Tangail, from personal appearance before this court in connection with the issue.

Read more: Child Custody: HC asks Tangail magistrate to explain order

Today, the HC fixed May 6 for further hearing on a writ petition filed by Jeba Rani Dey, mother of the child, challenging the legality of Executive Magistrate Nure Alam’s order who on March 21 ordered that Angshuman would be in the custody of Shova Rani.

The HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Jafar Ahmed issued a status quo on the magistrate’s order which means that the baby will remain in the custody of Shova Rani until HC further orders, Advocate Md Oziullah, the lawyer for the magistrate Nure Alam told The Daily Star.

During the proceeding, Justice Naima Haider took the child Angshuman in her lap and fed it chocolate which is a rare incident at the HC.

Magistrate Nure Alam, the child’s mother Jeba Rani Dey, its maternal aunt Shova Rani and her husband Biplab Guho appeared before the HC along with the child as per its earlier order.

Jeba Rani became ill after giving birth to Angshuman in October 2016.

Shova and Biplab used to visit Jeba at her home at Chandshi village of the district and often took Angshuman to their home. They would return the child after some days, Jeba’s lawyer SM Rezaul Karim earlier told The Daily Star.

Couple of months ago, Shova and Biplab refused to return the baby. Jeba applied for custody of the child to the executive magistrate on January 16 this year.

On January 18, the magistrate passed an order and gave the baby's custody to his mother Jeba.

But during another hearing on the case on March 21, the same magistrate ordered Jeba to give the baby to Shova's custody.