Mumbai: Even as the Bombay High Court said that a 91-year-old woman is living with her son and his family out of her own will and not illegally detained, it allowed her daughter to visit her on Sundays for three hours.Justices Bharati Dangre and Shyam Chandak on Monday clarified that the son’s family “shall ensure that some private movements are allowed between the daughter and the mother, and they shall be left to their solitude to the exclusion of other members of the family.”The daughter (69) alleged her mother is illegally detained by her brother’s wife and children. She claimed she was taking care of her mother, but when her brother suffered a brain stroke, their mother visited him and was confined and detained, restricting her communication with her daughter and other family members. The daughter made efforts to free her, and even filed a police complaint. She then filed a habeas corpus petition for her mother’s release and custody. Prosecutor Sangeeta Shinde said the investigating officer on Sept 23 recorded the mother and her caretaker’s statements. The judges perused the statements and were “satisfied” that the mother “is staying with the son on her own will.” She categorically stated she had gone to visit her daughter for a while, ‘but on Sept 20, when she came to meet her son, she realised that she is comfortable with him and she chose to reside there as the house belongs to her.’ She said everyone in her son’s house cares for her and ‘she is not desirous to shift to her daughter’s place’ and wants to continue her stay with her son. There was ‘no quibble with the daughter which constrained her to leave the house.’“In the wake of the categorical statement of Smt… that she wants to lead her life in the house of her son, which she considers to be hers, and with the determination with which she has made the statement, we form an opinion that she is not forced to stay there, and with her free will she is staying there, and is at comfort in the said house,” the judges said. “However, that does not mean her own daughter is not allowed to meet her”, they added. Assisted by the daughter’s advocate Girish Utangale and advocate Heena Mistry, for the son’s family, the parties arrived at a consensus. They agreed that the daughter will visit her mother between 3-6pm on Sundays.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/91-yr-old-living-with-son-out-of-own-will-hc-complainant-daughter-allowed-weekly-visits/articleshow/125644561.cms