CHENNAI: A marital discord, a lone woman with a child crisscrossing continents and cities within India, a determined father tracking his wife and son and a worried family of the girl – the Voora case has all the trappings of a soap opera.
Chennai resident Vijayasree Voora (39), along with her six-year-old son Aditya (6), has been on the run ever since Vijayasree fled from the US in August 2007.
Vijayasree, a resident of T Nagar and her ex-husband V Chandran were divorced in 2005. In 2007, Ravi won the custody rights of Aditya after which Vijayasree fled from the US to India along with the boy. She has the FBI looking for her after a New York family court issued an arrest warrant against her. The Chennai police too have been looking for her, following orders by the Supreme Court and the Madras high court.
Chandran feels that Vijayasree’s family is in touch with their daughter. "I have sufficient evidence the Voora family is in constant touch with Aditya and Vijayasree. The Voora family is huge and they have several daughters and sons. What about the father with a lone son who was forcibly taken away from him against the laws of at least two countries?” Chandran told The Times of India.
"It is about time Aditya gets a decent life with his father and mother, and I appeal to her to come out in the open. I assure her that I would provide her with all comforts and do whatever is necessary,” he said.
Vijayasree has been changing names and mobile numbers frequently; she does not use credit cards or known bank accounts ; supports herself and the child by selling her gold; never stays at a place for long; and does not visit relatives, including her parents, says www.rescueaditya.com, a website apparently launched by Chandran.
"I won’t leave India till I find my son,” Chandran said, claiming that he had paid around $ 3,00,000 (Rs 1.2 crore) towards a one-time settlement and another $ 2,500 (Rs 1 lakh) per month towards child support. Aditya was allowed to stay 20 days with his mother and the remaining 10 days with Chandran . However, Chandran claims that Voora developed psychological problems and was not able to take care of Aditya. "He (Aditya) was not comfortable staying with her," said Chandran.
In August 2006, the couple once again approached the New York family court, where Chandran filed an application to seek complete custody of Aditya, which Voora consented to and in June 2007 the court finally handed over custody to the father. That was the last time Chandran saw Aditya.
Voora then requested the court to grant her permission to take Aditya for a month to India, which the court allowed and directed her to return with Aditya on August 3, 2007. They had disappeared since then.
Vijayasree’s father Voora Sriman Narayana told TOI that his daughter had worked as a lecturer in the city. "Chandran should have handled the situation better. If you look at his website, it is full of egoism and vengeance. We are worried about our daughter and grandson," he said.
Narayana has filed a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that Chandran had harassed his ex-wife and sexually abused his son.
daniel.george@timesgroup.com
