World | India
Women's rights activists hail verdict
Women's rights activists on Wednesday hailed a ruling by India's top court that divorced women who remarry will no longer automatically lose custody of their children.
- AP
- Published: 00:00 November 23, 2006
New Delhi: Women's rights activists on Wednesday hailed a ruling by India's top court that divorced women who remarry will no longer automatically lose custody of their children.
The ruling made on Tuesday overturns a lower court decision that upheld the practice based on Hindu family law, which favours the father as the natural guardian of children.
"This is a step in the right direction and will allow women to make more choices and better choices," said Ranjana Kumari of the New Delhi-based Centre for Social Research, who hailed the move as a radical shift in attitudes towards divorce and the rights of divorced women.
"The fact that the mother has married again after divorce from the first husband is no ground for depriving the mother of her parental right of custody," the Supreme Court said.
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