Indian couple's sentencing violates child rights: Family

The relatives of Chandrasekhar Vallabhaneni, a software professional working in TCS in Oslo from Andhra Pradesh, who along with his wife Anupama were given jail terms said they will appeal in a higher court against the judgement.

"We are thoroughly disappointed with the court judgement. The Indian government has not responded on time. The judgement itself violates child rights as the two kids of my uncle will not have parental guidance as long as they are in prison," Chandrasekhar's nephew Shailendra told reporters here.

"Even the Norway government said Sai Sriram (elder son of Chandrasekhar) needs parental guidance. We will now appeal in the higher court. We also request the Indian government to intervene," he added.

The couple were arrested by Norway police last month and the court convicted them for gross or repeated maltreatment of their child/children by threats, violence or other wrong.

The prosecution proposed a sentence of 18 months for the father and 15 months for the mother in the case which was upheld by the court.

"As Indians, my uncle and aunty respected the laws of Norway and went there to appear before the court. So Indian government should support them. We will try to meet the external affairs minister and explain the situation to him," Shailedra said.

According to him, his uncle said that the orange book - the communication diary between the school and Chandrasekhar - was missing which could have been great help to the accused in this case.

Kalyana Chakravarty, a psychiatrist treating Sai Sriram, yesterday said the child showed considerable improvement after coming back from Norway but the separation from parents may cause some problem.

Reacting to Chandrasekhar's arrest, TCS hoped that the family has the strength and resilience to get through these trying times.

"The court has given a verdict based on its assessment of the facts as they pertain to the case. This is very unfortunate for all concerned. We have provided help and necessary support to the employee to ensure due process and legal support. We hope that the family has the strength and resilience to get through these trying times," a TCS spokesperson said.