Mother must return child to Denmark-based SA father
A mother, who clandestinely took her six-year-old child from where she and her now estranged husband lived in Denmark, has now been ordered to return the child to her husband in Denmark, reports IoL.
The Central Authority of SA and the father of the child turned to the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) to enforce the terms of the Hague Convention relating to international child abduction, to which SA is a signatory.
The husband is a South African currently living and working in Denmark as an engineer.
The woman is a Zimbabwean national, and they got married in SA in May 2018. They had been living in Denmark since 2019, where their son was born. She gave birth in SA to their second child a month ago.
The father told the court that the child should be returned to his country of habitual residence in Fredericia, Denmark, from where he was unlawfully removed in August.
The mother, on the other hand, claimed the father gave consent for her to bring the child with her to SA. She further argued that if returned, the child would be exposed to a grave risk of physical and psychological harm.
She relied heavily on the fact that the father, who has been diagnosed with bipolar mood disorder, travels extensively for work, and does not have the capacity to look after a six-year-old boy.
While the wife claimed her husband gave consent to her via an email message to travel to SA, Judge Leicester Adams rejected this, according to IoL.
He pointed out that in both versions of the wife and the husband, they were at loggerheads at that time. He pointed at evidence from the husband that the Denmark police were called to their home as the husband claimed his wife was ‘intoxicating him with illegal substances and trying to kill him’.
Shortly afterwards, the Family Court in Denmark, on request of the husband, issued a so-called notice of guidance against foreign travel and child abduction to both parents pending a custody case relating to the boy.
The judge ordered that the mother hand the child back to her husband within 10 days.
If she failed to do so, the sheriff was given permission to find the child and execute this order.
The father, on the other hand, must ensure that his wife has a place to stay if she wants to return to Denmark in a few months.
When and if she returned, the boy may stay with her until final custody arrangements were made by the Danish legal authorities, the judge concluded.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
