By Parminder Singh Bariana, IANS,
Dasuya (Punjab): A Sikh boy, found abandoned outside a clinic in Southall area of London in 2008, has been finally re-united with his paternal family in Punjab\’s Hoshiarpur district after a long-drawn legal process.
Gurinderjit Singh, 13, said he was “quite happy” to be re-united with his uncle (father’s elder brother) and would be living with him in their village near this town, 185 km from Chandigarh.
The court of senior judge Rakesh Kumar gave the interim custody of the boy to his uncle Kuldeep Singh after a hearing here Monday. The boy was brought to New Delhi from London Sunday.
According to sources, the boy’s father and mother, who are believed to be in Italy and Britain, respectively, had illegally immigrated from here. They did not claim the boy for fear of being deported for illegal immigration even after media reports about his travails came out.
The boy had no idea how he landed in London and could converse only in Punjabi. Investigations into his case in London revealed that he was abandoned by his mother after she illegally came to Britain from France. He was 11 years old then.
But as authorities in London and India along with social activists tried to help the boy, family trouble brewed in India.
A London court had last year decreed that the boy be sent back to his paternal family after his DNA samples matched with his uncle. His maternal family has now staked claim to the boy’s custody.
“We want his custody. We had spent money to send his father abroad. Our daughter is also missing. His (boy’s) sister also lives with us. We will take legal help to get his custody,” Mohinder Singh and Gurbachan Kaur, maternal grand parents of the boy, told IANS.
The boy’s sister, Navjit Kaur, who had come to the court here Monday specially to meet him, was a little disappointed after Gurinderjit decided to go with his paternal uncle instead of his maternal grandparents with whom she lives.
“I was happy to meet my sister here but I have told her that I will be staying with my uncle,” Gurinderjit told IANS here.
About 400 pounds worth of cash and other belongings of Gurinderjit were also handed over to the uncle by the court.
“He has been sent to us after proper verification by authorities. We have proceeded legally. We sent DNA samples from here to get him back. We will not let anyone take him,” Kuldeep told IANS.
Several families, including those from Punjab and Bihar, had laid claim to the boy after his photographs were published by the media.