Almost ten days after Priyadarshini Patil, the 40-year-old unhappy mother, filed a legal battle with Australian authorities over custody of her two children and ended her life by suicide, officials in Sydney have reportedly said she will look into the case now examined whether custody can be returned to the children’s father or grandparents.
Priyadarshini Patil, an NRI based in Australia, died by suicide in Belgavi district of Karnataka on August 20 amid a protracted custody battle in Australia. The lady had been involved in a legal battle with Australian authorities for the past three years. However, she ended her life on the fateful day of August 20 after allegedly learning that an online custody hearing for her two children has been postponed until November.
Priyadarshini claimed in her suicide note that her family was harassed in a Sydney neighborhood by Australian officials and locals. The letter detailed the distressing circumstances that led her to take this step, as well as her family’s legal battle over custody of their children.
According to media reports, Patil accused the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice and some of her neighbors of screwing up her life because of the suicide note that was found.
The case
After studying engineering, Priyadarshini married Lingaraj Patil who was from Kalyan Nagar in Dharwad. They settled in Sydney. The couple had two children: a son Amartya Patil and a daughter Aparajita, both Australian citizens by birth there.
Patil’s eldest child, Amartya, reportedly suffers from ulcerative colitis, an immunological disorder that causes inflammatory bowel disease. Over time, his illness worsened, necessitating hospitalization.
Six months had passed and her son’s health was not improving. Patil accused the doctors of inadequate care and filed a lawsuit against them.
Doctors responded by filing a complaint with Child Protection Services, accusing Patil of inadequate care for the children at home, which they believe is the cause of the disease.
Three years ago, both children were placed in the care of the Department of Communities and Justice. New South Wales officials accused Patil and her husband of “improper care” and separated the children.
Subsequently, the Patils launched a campaign to get their children back. Priyadarshini Patil launched an internet petition accusing the children’s public hospital of “corruption” and “forced” detention of her son. On July 28, 2023, the Patils contacted the Indian Consulate in Sydney after losing custody of both children.
Priyadarshini Patil’s family claimed they returned to India earlier this month “deeply distraught and without any hope of getting their children back”. Her body was found on August 20 in the backwaters of the Malaprabha River in Belagavi district.
In an interview with NDTV, children’s rights lawyer Suranya Aiyar stressed the need for an international system that recognizes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in cases involving children who are either Indian citizens or whose parents have recently moved to a foreign country have immigrated. Aiyar is leading the campaign in India to ensure the children are returned.
“As far as I know, no concrete steps have been taken. The application for the children’s repatriation to India is quite old… it was made several months before this tragic suicide but there was no response…” Ms Aiyar said.
“What we see time and time again in these cases is the system’s inability to respond to the plight of families and especially children who are either Indian citizens or are newcomers to a foreign country. And once they are taken away from the parents or, as in this case, parental rights have been severely curtailed, there is no way out… and the children are essentially being held hostage by foreign child protection agencies.”
Aiyar stressed the fact that “India is aware of the existence of crimes against the child” and that the government is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“If there can be an international system for the exchange of prisoners based on country of origin…and a system whereby even someone accused of the worst crimes has consular access…there is no reason such children should not be sent back to India.” may be if…” A foreign government judges parents to be incapable (of caring for the children) in any way.”
The woman’s sombre story is reminiscent of the ongoing Ariha Shah case in Germany, in which parents are fighting authorities to retrieve their two-year-old child from foster care, as well as numerous other similar stories of persecution that have emerged over time as a pattern, where Indians and newcomers of Indian origin in wealthy G-20 countries are persecuted by their childcare facilities due to cultural differences.
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