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Child row: Oslo court may jail AP couple for ‘threatening’ son

Oslo/ New Delhi, December 1
In a new twist, the prosecution has slapped criminal charges against the Andhra Pradesh couple arrested in Oslo for trying to “discipline” their seven-year-old son and proposed a minimum sentence of 15 months. The judgment will be delivered in the Oslo District Court on Monday.

Chandrasekhar Vallabhaneni, a software professional, and his wife Anupama, have been remanded in custody on criminal charges of "gross or repeated maltreatment" of their children by "threats, violence or other wrong".

The couple’s seven-year-old son was found wetting his pants in the school bus which was reported to his father, who in turn “threatened” the child that he would be sent back to India if he repeated that again, Chandrasekhar’s nephew V Sailender said.

Adopting a wait-and-watch approach, India today said its Norway Mission will do whatever is “appropriate” in the case, but made it clear that the incident related to a private citizen and the local law.

“This is an issue that does not relate to the government. It relates to a private citizen and to the local law of that country... Our Mission will make contact and do whatever is appropriate and necessary,” External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.

Anupama's lawyer Marte Brotrome said it was wrong to keep the Indian couple in prison in Norway. “If the court sentences them, we will appeal against it,” she told a TV channel. “They didn't hurt their children... They had difficulty in handling the boy, but they didn't hurt him and they didn't mean to do anything wrong. They tried to get help but they did not get any help," she said.”

The doctor treating the 7-year-old boy in Hyderabad said he had not seen any signs of physical or corporal punishment. “The child did not show any signs of fear of his parents. In fact, he was very close to them.”

The Indian Mission in Oslo sought consular access to the couple and a Consular Officer met Chandrasekhar to ascertain his welfare. — PTI