Guardianship of siblings: BD HC advises estranged couple to settle dispute amicably

Online desk: The High Court on Thursday advised an estranged couple to reach an amicable settlement of the dispute over guardianship of two minor siblings who were brought to Bangladesh from Japan by their father without the consent of their Japanese mother.

An online bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Mostafizur Rahman also requested father Imran Sharif’s lawyer Rokanuddin Mahmud and mother Eriko Nakano’s lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir to take further initiative to settle the dispute amicably by September 31.

The bench asked the couple to spend 24-hour separately with the two daughters aged between 12 and 10 years until September 31 at a flat rented by Imran in Dhaka following an order issued by the court.

The mother prayed for an order from the court to allow her to take the children to Japan where the father would be facilitated to meet with the children after the withdrawal of the guardianship case she had lodged against him in a family court in Japan.

The father opposed Eriko’s prayer, stating that the children would stay in Bangladesh where the mother would have

unhindered access to meet them in Bangladesh and her travel cost would be paid.

The couple had been living in separate rooms at the flat along with their children following the court order issued on September 8 but Eriko complained to the court that she could not spend time with the children exclusively and her right to privacy was being hampered in the presence of Imran.

The High Court observed that it did not want to pass any order which may tarnish Bangladesh’s image abroad or the Japanese national might think that she was deprived of justice.

Eriko, a physician by profession, travelled from Japan to Bangladesh on July 18 to respond to an order issued by a family court in Bangladesh on February 28 allowing Imran to keep the children in his custody until the mother submitted her explanation in the case filed by him.

On August 18 Eriko filed a writ petition seeking custody of the children.

Eriko in her petition alleged that the children were brought to Bangladesh from Japan on February 18 by their father keeping the hearing in a family lawsuit filed by their mother pending with a Japanese court over the custody of the children and the process of divorce sought by Eriko filed on January 28.