NRI woman seeks custody of her three 'abducted' children

A Goan NRI woman based in Qatar today moved the Bombay High Court at Goa seeking custody of her three minor boys aged four, eight and nine, who were allegedly abducted in Qatar and brought to Goa by her former husband.

The petitioner Precyla Baretto Fernandes has submitted that her former husband Collin Louis Fernandes abducted all the three children and brought them to Goa.

Through a habeas corpus petition Fernandes, represented by advocate Aires Rodrigues, has sought directions by the high court to Mapusa police and her former husband's brother Austin Fernandes to produce her kids in court and be given back to her.

A Division bench of the high court comprising Justice A P Lavande and Justice U Bakre will hear the petition on July 31.

As per her pleading, on January 30, 2012 Qatar court granted her divorce from her husband-- Collin Louis Fernandes. The court also gave her the  legal custody of her three children.

However, she has claimed that on June 12, her husband abducted the three children from her residence in Qatar and flew them to Goa and went back to Qatar after dropping the three boys with his brother at Duler in Mapusa.

The petitioner has pointed out that after the abduction, the Indian Embassy in Qatar wrote to the Chief Secretary of Goa, giving details of the abduction of the three boys and seeking immediate action by the authorities in Goa.

She also filed a written complaint with the Mapusa police on July 20.