Indian couple face one year jail in Norway

Oslo, 01 Dec 2012 (PTI): The Indian couple arrested here in an alleged child abuse case have been charged with "gross repeated maltreatment" of their child for which the prosecution has proposed a minimum sentence of one year and three months for the parents.

 

According to a statement by Oslo Police Department, the couple have been remanded in custody, as there is reason to fear that they will evade prosecution by returning to India. The Court of Appeals in process of hearing the defence’s appeal amd the judgement will be pronounced in Oslo District Court on December 3.

 

"The couple have been charged with gross repeated maltreatment of their child/children by threats, violence or other wrong under section 219 of the Penal Code," Police Department said.

 

"The prosecution proposed a sentence of one year three months for the mother and one year six months for the father. The judgement in the case would be pronounced on Monday, December 3."

 

Chandrasekhar Vallabhaneni, a software professional from Andhra Pradesh, and his wife his wife Anupama - an officer of the Indian embassy were taken into custody by the police in Oslo.

 

The police arrested Chandrasekhar after his 7-year-old child complained to his school teachers that his parents were threatening to send him back to India for his acts, Chandrasekhar’s nephew V Sailender, who is in Hyderabad, claimed.

 

The boy was found wetting his pants in the school bus which was reported to his father, who in turn "threatened" the child that he would be sent back to India if he repeated that again, Sailender said, adding the boy was also found bringing toys from school.

 

The incident comes barely months after another row involving an Indian couple and their children. Abhigyan (3) and Aishwarya (4) were taken away from their parents --Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya -- by Norway’s Child Welfare Society in May last year on grounds of "emotional disconnect".