Custody battle for 3-year-old

The mother of a three-year-old born out of a live-in relationship moved Bombay High Court on Friday seeking custody of her daughter.

In a habeas corpus petition,the woman said her partner had taken the child to his home town in Kerala when she was in Dubai on work. The man,she said,told her parents — with whom she had left the child — that he was taking her home,but instead took her to Kerala.

She alleged that her partner had also taken her gold jewellery with him.

After returning to India,the woman filed a complaint at Trombay police station and followed it up with the habeas corpus plea. The child was seen sitting in courtroom 13 on Friday afternoon nibbling a bar of chocolate.

The court let her stay with her father until September 3,when it will hear the couple.