Facing sexual abuse allegations, man permitted to virtually meet daughters

A man accused of sexually abusing his minor daughters has been allowed by a Mumbai court to virtually meet the girls, who reside in the US with his estranged wife. The court has instructed counsellors to be present at both ends during videoconferencing and asked the man to adopt a slow and patient approach. The court also noted that there is no concrete evidence confirming sexual abuse and that the allegations surfaced only after the wife went back to the US and hired a lawyer to fight her case.

The family court at Bandra has allowed a man, who is accused of sexually abusing his minor daughters, to virtually meet the girls residing in the United States with his estranged wife.

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“It is noticed by the courts worldwide that the litigating parents can lie to any extent to obtain suitable orders (from courts). At this stage, there is no concrete or substantial piece of evidence or information which confirms that there was sexual abuse by the petitioner upon his daughters,” principal judge Swati Chauhan said while hearing the man’s plea last week.

The court has, however, asked the man to be cautious while resuming communication with his daughters and has instructed counsellors to remain present at both ends during the videoconferencing.

“The petitioner should not forget that he is under the scanner for allegations of sexually abusing his daughters. From the available record, the daughters are apprehensive and fearful of him. They are not willing to talk to him, even virtually. In such circumstances, the petitioner should adopt a slow and patient approach,” the court said, adding there should be a therapeutic reunification module to unite the family.

The principal judge further said the law in India and in the US acknowledges that tutoring a child to make false allegations of sexual abuse is equally abusive to the child and hence the strained relationship between the father and the daughters is required to be normalised gradually through counselling sessions.

The couple – both IT professionals – had moved to the US soon after their marriage in June 2003. In 2015, the family came to India after the husband got a job in a Mumbai-based multinational company. In early February 2021, wife left for her mother’s place and on February 16 told him that she did not want to stay with him, and a month-and-a-half later informed him that she had shifted back to the US along with their daughters.

The husband then filed a plea through his lawyer Anagha Nimkar alleging that his wife had denied him virtual access to their daughters on the pretext of sexual abuse allegations.

The woman claimed that she first came to know about the sexual abuse in February 2021. The family court, however, questioned her why she did not act immediately, as a reasonable and prudent mother would do and did not file any complaint, nor did she take the girls for a medical examination.

“The absence of mention of sexual abuse can be noticed in the letter written by the respondent (wife) to the US counsellor prior to leaving India. The respondent has sought permission to travel to the US for a better life, better support in education and special needs and therapies for her elder daughter. But there is no mention of sexual abuse in the said letter,” the court said, pointing out that the allegations of sexual abuse surfaced only after she went back to the US and hired a lawyer to fight her case.

The court also took note of the girls’ health condition. While the younger one, 10, is suffering from a life-threatening food allergy, the 14-year-old elder daughter has low muscle tone and is diagnosed with sensory integration disorder.