Bangla girls back to moms

TT Cooch Behar, Oct. 3: Three Bangladeshi girls who were kept at the government shelter here returned to their mothers today after being taken into safe custody following the arrests of their fathers who were accused of kidnapping by their spouses.

The three girls, aged between five and ten years, were taken to the international checkpost at Changrabandha where they were taken to their mothers in Bangladesh's Bogura.

The three girls are Dwipannita Karmakar, 10, and Kajari Karmakar, 5, who are siblings. Tamalika Karmakar, 9, is a first cousin.

Dora Bhattacharya, member of the Cooch Behar Child Welfare Committee, said the three girls had been staying at the home called Shahid Bandana from May 4.

"We had sent details about the girls to the Bangladesh deputy high commissioner in Calcutta a month ago. The office cleared their return home on Saturday," Bhattacharya said.

Raju Karmakar, the father of the siblings who stays in Rangapani near Siliguri, explained the circumstances over phone.

He and his brother are blacksmiths. "We are residents of Dhawakola in Bogura. I and my brother, Bablu Karmakar, along with our father entered India with our daughters on February 28 through Hili in South Dinajpur. We had valid passports but the girls did not. We entered India and came to stay with a relative in Rangapani. We had planned to return after a short stay but my wife Dipali and my brother's wife Tapasi filed a complaint against us," he said. He was arrested but released on bail.