Mumbai, Jun 11 The Bombay High Court has handed over custody of a 12-year-old girl, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by her uncle, to her mother, accused of killing her husband with the help of her paramour, noting it is in the child's best interest.
The girl is also a prime witness in her father's murder case.
A bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan, in the order passed on Tuesday, said the child, while in custody of her paternal relatives after her mother's arrest last year, was allegedly sexually assaulted by her uncle and hence it would be "in her best interest to live with her mother for mental support".
The woman had filed a plea seeking custody of her daughter, who was living with her paternal aunt after the police arrested her for allegedly killing her husband.
The woman said once she was granted bail, the custody of her two younger children was handed over to her and not the elder daughter.
The woman in her plea alleged that her elder daughter was sexually assaulted by her paternal uncle at their residence, and a case has been lodged, hence it would be in the best interest of the child to live with her mother.
The court noted that the daughter wished to live with her mother, despite being a prime witness in the murder case.
The woman was arrested in August last year for allegedly killing her husband along with her paramour. The HC granted her bail in January this year. One of the bail conditions was that she would not contact any witness in the case against her.
The woman informed the court that she had got the bail order modified by an HC bench to exclude her daughter, who is also a witness in the case, so the child could live with her.
The high court noted that it would be in the best interest of the child to live with her mother and handed over custody of the child.
As per the police, the woman and her paramour assaulted her husband after he confronted them about their relationship. Instead of taking her husband to a hospital, the woman kept him at home, where his condition worsened.
The couple's daughter informed her paternal relatives, who then rushed the man to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
While the woman claimed that her husband had met with a bike accident, her daughter revealed the truth to the relatives and later to the police.
