‘Diksha’ of 7-year-old Surat girl on hold as mother files undertaking in family court

On Monday, the 37-year-old woman filed an affidavit, based on the direction of the Surat Family Court, stating that the Diksha ceremony , which was to be held from February 2 to February 8, 2026, has been “set aside for the time being”. During the arguments the mother had submitted that the entire process of the religious initiation had been undertaken with consent from the father. The mother also made submissions showing the father of the child being present at meetings with the spiritual leader, who was grooming the child for the Diksha.

Advocate Samapti Mehta, who represented the father in the matter told The Indian Express, “We submitted to the court that the photographs used to portray the father’s consent were misleading as he had been coerced to attend that meeting since the mother had threatened to initiate divorce proceedings if he did not show up. She had also threatened him saying that Diksha can be initiated without his consent as well… he attended the meeting as a concerned father.”

Mehta added that while the child’s welfare remained at the center of the arguments, the father submitted that he was “opposed to the Diksha being initiated at a tender age”. She said, “The wife is living separately with the children and has her reasons to initiate the child into religious life at a tender age but our submission before the court is that the child should be allowed to grow and make an informed choice.”

The proposed Diksha ceremony was to be held in Borivali in Mumbai from February 4 to 8, 2026, in presence of Jain monks where close to 60 persons are expected to take Diksha and the seven-year-old was to be the youngest. Speaking to media persons outside the family court on Monday, the girl’s mother said, “The entire process had been initiated with his (father’s) knowledge… If he had any objection, he should have met our spiritual leader. Approaching the court and making a public spectacle is unfortunate…”

The father, who also reacted to the court proceedings, told mediapersons, “I was compelled to move the court as (wife’s) the family had threatened me to not object to the same… I am not opposed to the idea of Diksha and I honour the practice but I feel my daughter should be allowed to grow up and make a choice of her own. Her mother wishes to gain public accolades for sending a young child into Diksha but I am not keen on such popularity at the cost of my child’s innocence…”

The family court will further hear the matter on January 2 in the custody plea of the father.

The girl’s father had approached the Surat Family Court on December 10, seeking her custody, in a plea filed under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890. The petitioner had stated that his estranged wife had decided to initiate the minor child into Jain monkhood without his consent and sought to be appointed as the legal guardian to protect the child’s interests. Family Court Judge SV Mansuri had issued a notice to the petitioner’s wife and sought a reply on Monday.

As per the affidavit filed by the mother before the Oath Commissioner of the Family Court on Monday, the couple had married in September 2012 and have two children from the marriage aged 7 and 5. As per the plea of the father, the estranged wife had left her matrimonial home in April 2024 to reside with her parents as the two had a disagreement over the issue of initiating the minor girl into monkhood.