'Malicious parent syndrome' increasing trend in custody cases: Karnataka HC | Bangalore News

The Karnataka High Court, in a recent order, lamented the rise of “malicious parent syndrome” and observed that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (Pocso) Act was being used to settle disputes between estranged parents.

The order was passed by a single bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna in response to a petition filed by a man in response to a criminal case filed by his wife's ex-husband following a custody battle over their daughter.

The plaintiff's lawyer argued that the ex-husband filed the lawsuit only to settle scores with his ex-wife and that the truth would come out if the child's statement was revisited. The opposing counsel argued that in a Pocso case, the presumption is against the accused and hence the truth should be established in a trial.

The court found that the ex-husband had described the child's entire life story in an application for custody shortly before the criminal complaint was filed, but had not mentioned any allegations of abuse.

“Both of the above contradictory allegations – one is calm and the other is bloody when taken into account and juxtaposed with the statement of the prosecution – not once but twice – one before the order passed by this court, one statement , which was given on 04.02.2021 and the examination and cross-examination conducted on 07.07.2022 as per the order of this court would completely nullify the case against the plaintiff…,” the bench said.

“The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that an innocent child is being used by the second defendant, the ex-husband of the child's mother, to settle scores against the mother and the current plaintiff, the third husband of the child's mother,” it says it added in the notice court.

“It is clearly a gross abuse of the penal provisions by the appellant to settle his wayward scores with the mother of the child who abandoned him and married the appellant. It is unfortunate that the provisions of the Pocso Act that are meant to protect the child from abuse are being misused…stories are being intertwined to retain or take custody of the child. Taking into account the above, this becomes a classic example of a trend called “malicious parent syndrome,” the court said.

The court also noted that these observations should only be made in the context of the facts of this particular case. The application was granted and the criminal proceedings were discontinued.

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First uploaded on: 09-02-2024 at 11:06 IST