Siminder Kaur,33, IT Professional and Vaneet Singh, 36, a Mechanical Engineer married 8 years, are working and now live separately in TN, USA. She and her husband are permanent residents of US and their son is an American citizen by virtue of birth.

• The pair met through a matrimonial website in India and married in March 2008. 
• On November 27 2015, with manipulation by my husband and in-laws I left my son Anhad in his sleep at Mohali ....
• On Apr 21, 2016, my husbands’ parents in Mohali, Pb India did not even allow me to meet my son

Siminder Kaur wrote:

In October 2015, Siminder flew down to India to attend a family wedding in her husband’s city Mohali (Punjab). Things started to spiral due to some marital issues that got aggravated last year and we decided to leave my son with my husbands’ parents in India in Nov 2015 (biggest mistake I ever committed!!!). Due to the pressure and manipulation by my husband and in-laws, I went back to US with my husband to work on our marriage; we mutually agreed that we will bring our son back to his home after 3-4 months while we work on resolving our issues. However things took a turn for the worse when I kept telling my husband to bring our son back and he kept on making excuses and buying time, and in the end, he blatantly refused. We couldn’t resolve our differences. That’s when I realized that he never had the intention of resolving any issues or bringing back our son; it had been a ploy all along.

On Apr 21, 2016, I was homeward bound in a desperate attempt to get my son back; with only one week vacation in hand and a return ticket for me and my son. It’s been more than 2 months now and I still haven’t seen my son. When I reached Mohali, India, my in-laws stopped me from entering my matrimonial home and did not even allow me to meet my son outside the home. The police instead of helping me advised me to get a court order to enter my home or to meet my son. The irony is that my husband and I have paid for the loans and registration for this house; in addition to regularly contributing to household expenses and I still can’t call it my home. This is the home that appears on my passport as my permanent address and this is the home that is now restricting my access to my child. Today the Indian legal system is denying me timely justice. I am being asked to justify my right to live in that home, my right to be with my son.

When the police failed to help me, I was forced to file multiple cases against my husband and in-laws to safeguard my interest and to fight for justice. However, justice is being delayed and I’m now on the very verge of losing my job in the US. And as the adage goes, justice delayed is justice denied. Unfortunately my son is caught in the middle of this crossfire and is being deprived of his mother’s love & affection.

Over the past 8 years, I was constantly subjected to high degree of domestic violence and abuse by my husband and in-laws, however fearing the social stigma attached to a single mother, I bore the brunt and didn’t bring it to the forefront or report any incidents. Today, my husband has deceived me and robbed me of everything. My trust and naivety has led to majority of our jointly made assets being in his name in India. I am now dependent on my parents with no money in India to fend for myself.

I’m going from pillar to post, to fight for my rights, and my in-laws continue to harass me by putting false / frivolous police complaints & allegations against me. This has exacerbated my distress as the legal system is adding to my woes instead of alleviating my pain.
I have seeked help from local police, from courts, from National Commission for Women, among other organizations, from US consulate, from US congressmen, from neighbors, from common friends, from media, but till now I haven’t had a glimpse of my son. I am being told this can take years but that would only mean that I will miss my sons most productive years and loose out on an opportunity to make a positive imprint on his childhood years.

My husband who doesn’t care about our son has gone back to US to save his job while I’m still struggling to be in my son’s life and fighting with the grandparents now? A mother, who has lost everything, who wants to protect her child and his welfare, is asking for her son to be released to her, it’s where he belongs. But the Indian judicial system does not consider this as an urgent issue; and she needs to wait for a written reply to even get some interim relief. Her in-laws manage to get dates after dates to file a reply and she now has to wait for the offenders’ written reply to be with her own son?? How do the rights of a grandparent take precedence over the right of his birth mother, I ask?

With a heavy inconsolable heart, I left my son Anhad in his sleep on November 27 2015, not knowing that I will have to wait for so long to hold him again. I trusted my husband, his family and entrusted them with the most precious thing I had, but now, I am being forced to fight a long legal battle, with no support from my husband to get back what is rightfully mine. I have been searching high and low for help avenues, connecting with strangers, talking to lawyers and government authorities day and night, hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Every time I see a child, any child, it reminds me of my son who has been snatched from me through deceitful means. I smile at those kids, those mothers, and I hope that one day I too can hold my son when I can kiss him, love him, give to him what he deserves.