Indian mission offers help to arrested couple in Norway

Indian mission in Oslo has offered to provide consular assistance to the Indian couple in Norway arrested allegedly for trying to discipline their seven-year-old son for wetting his pants.

According to the information with the mission, V Chandrasekhar, a software professional from Andhra Pradesh, and his wife, Anupama were taken into custody by the police in Oslo, official sources said.

They said the mission has offered to provide consular assistance to the family, who is also in the process of filing their appeal through their lawyer there.

However, more details were awaited in the matter. The Indian Embassy in Oslo is in touch with the lawyer and is awaiting more information from the lawyer.

The police arrested Chandrasekhar, a TCS employee nine months after the child complained to his school teachers that his parents were threatening to send him back to India for his acts, Chandrasekhar's nephew V Sailender, who is in Hyderabad, claimed.

"My uncle had no idea about the case registered against him initially. He came to Hyderabad along with his wife and children in July and went back to Oslo in the last week of October. Then he was served a notice to appear before the authorities along with his wife," he said.

"My aunt also went to Oslo on November 23 and the couple appeared before the authorities concerned. On November 28, we were informed by my uncle's neighbours in Oslo that they were arrested and remanded," Sailender told PTI.

The boy 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, Sailender said, adding the boy was also found bringing toys from school.

The incident comes barely months after another row involving an Indian couple and their children.

Abhigyan, 3, and Aishwarya, 4, were taken away from their parents --Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya -- by Norway's Child Welfare Society in May last year on grounds of "emotional disconnect".

After Indian diplomatic push and Norwegian government's intervention, a court in that country in April ended months of custody row by handing over the two children to their India-based uncle who had to travel to Oslo to bring them back.