Custody of young girls can't be given to any claimant: HC

The Delhi High Court today refused custody of a girl to a man who claimed to be her husband by showing a photograph.
"We are not going to release her to you. If courts start releasing young girls' custody to claimants on the basis of photographs, then we have had it. All kinds of false documents could be created," a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Deepa Sharma said.
The court's observation came during the hearing of a habeas corpus plea by a man seeking custody of his wife who is 17-and-a-half years old and currently living at Nirmal Chhaya, a home for young girls and women.

The court, however, allowed the man to meet the girl there if she wanted to meet him, while dismissing his plea for custody of the girl who is pregnant.
The court also directed the authorities to ensure proper education and nutrition for the girl as she was pregnant.
The petition was dismissed after advocate Tushar Sannu, appearing for the Delhi Police, said that investigations have revealed that the girl's date of birth was August 15, 1999 and therefore, she was a minor and cannot be sent back to the petitioner.
The man in his plea has claimed that his wife was 19 years old as her date of birth is August 15, 1997.

He also told the court that the girl has refused to go back to her parents who had lodged a kidnapping complaint against the man after they got married on January 3 this year.