The Supreme Court today directed that two children, Nakano Jasmine Malika (11) and Nakano Laila Lina (9), who were brought from Japan to Bangladesh in February last year, will stay with their mother -- Japanese national Eriko Nakano -- till January 23.
Their father, Bangladesh-born US citizen Imran Sharif, can visit his daughters between 9am and 9pm every day during this period and the children must be allowed to go to school, the court added.
Eriko is now staying at a hotel in Dhaka's Baridhara area with her daughters Jasmine and Laila, her lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir told The Daily Star.
The children were brought to the Appellate Division this morning in line with its December 15 order.
Today, a three-member full bench of the Appellate Division of the SC, headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, passed the order following a petition filed by Eriko challenging a High Court verdict on this issue and seeking custody of her children.
The bench asked Eriko to file a leave to appeal petition with the court by January 23, challenging the HC verdict.
Delivering verdict on a writ petition of Eriko, the HC on November 21 directed that Jasmine and Laila will remain with their father Imran Sharif and their mother can meet them (children) three times a year.
Eriko can meet her daughters (Jasmine and Laila) for 10 days at a time exclusively and Imran will bear her travel and other relevant expenses during these periods, it said.
Besides, she (Eriko) can also meet her children in Bangladesh at any other time at her own expense, the HC said in the verdict.
Lawyer Ahsanul Karim appeared for Eriko while lawyer Fawzia Karim Firoze stood for Imran.
