Ex-DIG, wife not parents of 7 kids

The High Court (HC) yesterday ruled that former deputy inspector general (DIG) of police Anisur Rahman and his wife Anwara Rahman are not the biological parents of the "septuplets" rescued from their house.
The HC bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Farid Ahmed yesterday delivered the judgement upon a writ petition filed by BNWLA, seeking the legal custody of the children -- four boys and three girls.
Since Anisur Rahman and his wife are reluctant to prove their parenthood by taking DNA tests, it gave the court an impression that they are not the real parents of the children, the court observed in its ruling saying that there have never been any precedence of giving birth to septuplets by a mother at any point in Bangladesh.
The court, however, said if Anisur Rahman and his wife are confident that they are the parents of the seven children and they deserve to have the custody of the children, the couple will have to prove their case by going through DNA tests under the supervision of the Supreme Court (SC) authorities. The couple will then have to file an appeal with the SC to have the HC judgement reviewed by the SC, the HC bench added.
The court also ruled that the children would be raised under the care of Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers Association (BNWLA), a human rights organisation, at its shelter home named Proshanti at Agargaon in the capital until they reach 18 years of age.
For the well-being of the children, the BNWLA is to take all the responsibilities including providing the children with food, security, education and treatment and if the BNWLA faces any problem carrying out their duties, it will have to inform the HC of the matter by filing a petition with the court, said the court.
Advocate Fawzia Karim Firoze, president of BNWLA, yesterday told The Daily Star that the HC has delivered a landmark judgement by properly applying its jurisdiction.
BNWLA had filed the writ petition with the HC on June 18, 2006, seeking the legal custody of the seven children to save them from being victims of human trafficking.
Bangladesh Society for Establishment of Human Rights (BSEHR), another human rights organisation, later filed an appeal with the HC to become a party to the writ petition and the HC allowed the BSEHR to be a party, she explained.
As a result of the judgement, the BSEHR will be able to provide care for the children under the supervision of the BNWLA, said advocate Fawzia adding, "Until the real parents of the children are found, we'll take all necessary steps for their treatment and well-being till they are 18."
Kazi Md Sajawar Hossain, the former DIG's lawyer, said if his client seeks his advice, he would advise his client to file an appeal with the SC against the HC verdict.
Regarding the human trafficking case filed against the former DIG couple with Badda Police Station by BSEHR Executive Director advocate Alena Khan on June 15, 2006, Sajawar said the case would now run at the lower court.
Earlier on August 6, during the hearing of the writ petition, the HC had ordered Dhaka Medical College (DMC) authorities to carry out the tests at its DNA Lab under the supervision of the SC authorities.
The DMC authorities, upon completion of the tests at the DNA lab, submitted the test reports before the HC through the Supreme Court (SC) authorities on August 12.
The same day, the HC quoting the reports said the seven children rescued from the former DIG couple are not siblings.
The children have been staying at the BNWLA shelter home Proshanti at Agargaon. The children have been identified as Marium, Aimon Rahman Anis, Alas Rahman Akand, Nafis Rahman Nais, Dian Rahman, Jannatul Nafiza Rahman and Jannatul Anisa Rahman.
The children's 'mother' Anwara Rahman, accused in an extortion case, has been in jail for the last few months while the 'father' did not appear before the court during the hearings of the writ petition.
In 2006, reports were published in different newspapers about the ex-DIG couple living in a house with 14 children and seven of them appeared to be of the same age -- between 18 and 24 months. The couple maintained that they were the parents of the children and the seven were "septuplets".
Advocate Faowzia Karim and advocate Fahima Nasreen appeared for BNWLA while advocate M Asaduzzaman and advocate Alena Khan represented the BSEHR during yesterday's hearing.