Ahmedabad, Aug 27 A 38-year-old widow from Kutch district has moved the Gujarat High Court seeking the custody of her six children, aged between three and 14 years, from her own 22-year-old eldest daughter, who is married.
The woman, in a habeas corpus petition, has also alleged that the daughter took control of her bank accounts and misappropriated about Rs 15 lakh after the death of her second husband.
A division bench of Justices Sangeeta Vishen and Utkarsh T Desai, which heard the plea, on Tuesday (August 25) issued notices to her daughter, son-in-law, the Kutch Superintendent of Police and Police Inspector at Nakhatrana town in the district, among others, seeking their reply by September 8.
A habeas corpus petition is a legal remedy seeking direction to produce a person who is missing or has been illegally detained.
The widow moved the HC after a magistrate's court at Kutch district rejected her plea for custody of her minor children. The woman has a daughter from her first marriage, and two sons and four daughters from her second wedding.
According to the petition, the woman's relationship with her eldest daughter soured after the latter eloped with her boyfriend, married him and started living separately. In November 2023, the woman lodged an FIR after which her daughter appeared before authorities and said she had voluntarily left her parental home, after which her marriage was solemnised.
When the petitioner's second husband died on June 6, 2025, the eldest daughter invited her mother to live with her family, an offer she accepted and moved in with her six minor kids. However, the mother-daughter relation soured within months of their staying together, stated the plea.
Meanwhile, the daughter allegedly gained control over her mother's bank accounts without her free will and informed consent, withdrew and misappropriated the entire amount lying there, aggregating to approximately Rs 15 lakh, according to the petitioner.
While the woman left her daughter's house, she was allegedly not allowed to take her minor children with her, upon which she approached a court at Mundra town in Kutch district in December last year, seeking their custody.
The court at Mundra, however, rejected her plea, noting the children were not forcibly detained, but were willingly living with their eldest sister and her family.
The woman sought the custody of her minor children on the ground she was their natural guardian, pointing out the youngest among them was just three-year-old.
