Appeal hearing on granting custody February 16

A Dhaka court on Thursday allowed Nakano Laila Lina, the second daughter of estranged couple Bangladesh-born US citizen Imran Sharif and Japanese citizen Eriko Nakano, to live one day with her mother and the next day with her father until the matter is finally dispose of by a family court.

Dhaka Family Court on January 29 granted custody of Nakano Jasmine Malika, 12, and Nakano Laila Lina, 10, to their Japanese mother Eriko Nakano. But after the court's order, Imran Sharif allegedly went into hiding with 10-year-old Lina.

RAB later found the father and daughter in the Gulshan area and sent Lina to the victim support centre as she was unwilling to go with her mother. Today, the matter came to the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mamunur Rashid, and the court after hearing both sides, passed the order.

Dhaka Family Court is scheduled to hear on February 16 an appeal of Imran Sharif against the verdict on the custody of his daughters.

Judge Durrana Rahman of Dhaka Family Court pronounced the judgment on January 29, saying the mother can take the two children Nakano Jasmine Malika and Nakano Laila Lina to Japan with her if she wants.

Eriko Nakano married Bangladesh-born US citizen Imran Sharif in 2008 in Japan. They became parents of three children after that. In 2020, Eriko filed a divorce petition with a Japanese court. Imran later took two of their daughters with him and came to Bangladesh.

Eriko too came to Bangladesh and filed petition after petition with the apex court for the custody of the two children.

The High Court on August 31, 2021, ordered Imran Sharif and Nakano Eriko to live at a Gulshan flat together for 15 days with their two daughters. The court had asked the Department of Social Services to look over the matter and the Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police is being asked to ensure the safety of this family.

The court finally came up with its order as the couple failed to reach a consensus on where and with whom their two daughters will live, in spite of repeated instructions from the court.

The Supreme Court, however, on February 13, 2022, said, until the disposal of the case by Dhaka family court, the two children will remain in the custody of their mother, while their father can meet them in the house.