Online Desk :
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ruled that two children of Japanese citizen Nakano Eriko and Bangladeshi national Imran Sharif will remain with their mother Eriko until a case filed by the father for the custody of the children is settled in the Family Court.
A five-member bench led by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order on Sunday after settling an appeal by Nakano against a High Court decision awarding custody of the children to their father, reports bdnews24.com.
The Family Court usually makes the decision on child custody. Eriko had filed an application for habeas corpus – a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court – to the High Court.
The Supreme Court said that the children could not be taken out of the jurisdiction of the court considering the circumstances of the case and the interests of the children. As a result of this order, the children cannot be taken out of Bangladesh.
The case filed by the father is pending in the Family Court. The father, however, will be allowed to meet his children.
The Supreme Court has also directed the Family Court to settle the case within three months of receiving the order.
Imran, an American citizen of Bangladeshi descent, married Nakano in 2008. The couple had three children.
Three days after Nakano filed for divorce in January 2021, Imran picked up his two eldest daughters on their way home from school and flew with them to Bangladesh. The three have been living here since.
Nakano came to Bangladesh from Japan in July last year to try and regain custody of her children. The legal battle has stretched on for months.
On Nov 21, the High Court decided that Bangladeshi citizen Imran would have custody of the two girls he had brought to Dhaka from Japan. He was, however, required to allow their mother to meet with them in private.
Nakano then challenged the decision at the Supreme Court.
