2 Japan-born girls to stay with their mother till January 23: SC

The Appellate Division today ruled that the two children of Bangladesh-born US citizen Imran Sharif and Japanese mother Nakano Erico will stay with their mother till January 23.

A three-member full bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, passed the order following a petition filed by Erico challenging a High Court order.

The court said their father Imran Sharif, can visit his daughters between 9am and 9pm every day during this period.

Advocate Ahsanul Karim and Advocate Shishir Monir appeared for Erico while Lawyer Fawzia Karim Firoze for Imran Sharif.

On November 21, the HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman ruled that the Japan-born daughters of Imran and Erico will stay with their father.

However, the mother can exclusively meet the daughters, aged 11 and 10, three times a year for 10 days at a time and Imran, the father, will bear her travel and accommodation expenses, said the court.

If Erico wants to meet her children beyond the court-prescribed time she has to do it at her own expenses, the court said.

Imran was also instructed to allow the children to talk to their mother on video calls twice a month on holidays.

Following the writ petition, the High Court also ordered Imran to give Tk 10 lakh to Erico for the expenses she incurred to travel to Dhaka and stay here for seven days.