High Court sends 2 children of Japanese mother to support centre

The High Court on Monday asked the authorities concerned to keep the two children of a Japanese woman and a Bangladeshi man at the Tejgaon Victim Support Centre in a good environment until August 31 amid a legal battle over their custody.

The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman passed the order following a petition filed by the Japanese mother.

The court also gave them permission to meet the children at the Tejgaon Victim Support Centre.

On August 19, Japanese citizen Nakano Eriko, 46, filed the petition with the High Court seeking its directives to get back her two daughters -- Jasmine Malika, 11, and Laila Lina, 10 -- from their Bangladeshi father Sharif Imran.

The court then asked the authorities to present the two children before the court on August 31. It also asked Imran not to leave the country with his daughters for the next one month.

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On Sunday, a team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police took both the children under custody.

On Monday, Advocate Fawzia Karim, a counsel for Imran, drew the attention of the court about it.

Advocate Mohammad Sishir Monir stood for the Japanese woman during the hearing.

He said: “Eriko, a physician by profession, filed a petition seeking custody of her two children. Eriko and Imran tied the knot on July 11, 2008, according to the law of Japan. They used to live in Tokyo and the couple has been blessed with three daughters.

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“Three daughters of the couple aged 11, 10, and seven were studying at a school in Tokyo. On January 18, Imran appealed for divorce, and on January 21, he filed an appeal to the school authorities to take one of his daughters but they refused following the objection of Eriko."

Later, Imran picked up the other two daughters from the school bus to a rented building on February 21 and returned to Bangladesh with them.

On May 31, a court in Tokyo handed over the custody of the two daughters to Eriko.

On July 18, Eriko came to Bangladesh to meet her daughters.