Staff Correspondent: Dhaka, Sept-06

The legal fight between Bangladeshi father Sharif Imran and Japanese mother Nakano Eriko over their two daughters’ custody got a new dimension as a document suggests an official of the Japanese Embassy, Dhaka received a ‘bribe’ to influence the case.

According to the document obtained by the media, Eriko's younger sister Nakano Minako, a former newsreader for the local Fuji TV in Japan, sent 25,0000 Yen worth about Tk 2 lakh to Miyaji Kyohei, an official of the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka through online banking.

Minako transferred the money to Miyaji’s bank account-No 2349410 with Rakuten Bank in Japan.Legal experts in Bangladesh think this money was given as a bribe to Miyaji for using the Japanese Embassy’s influence in favour of Eriko.

They said an investigation is needed to look into the matter.

                                                                                Photo: Eriko's younger sister Nakano Minako

Miyaji was seen with Eriko at the CID headquarters in Dhaka and he has been playing an active role in favour of her. He keeps in touch with Eriko every day breaching all the protocols of the embassy.

As per the diplomatic norms, no diplomat can take money from any citizens for giving him/her from any assistance or service from the Embassy.

On February 9, Bangladeshi father Imran Sharif along with his two daughters--Malika and Laila Lina--moved to Dhaka from Japan where a lawsuit was on with a Japanese court over the divorce with Eriko.

On July 18, Nakano Eriko, a Japanese doctor, came to Bangladesh and filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking a directive on Bangladeshi father Imran Sharif to hand over the two children to her custody.

The High Court sent the two children, now in troubled times due to the separation between their Bangladeshi father and Japanese mother, to their parents’ care for the 15 days in a rented house in Gulshan.

The court also fixed September 16 for next order on the matter.

The couple, Eriko and Sharif Imran got married on July 11, 2008.

Later, they were blessed with three daughters--Jasmine Malika, 11, Laila Lina, 10, and Sania Hena, 7.

On January 18 this year, Nakano Eriko filed a legal notice seeking divorce with Imran.

Thenafter, on January 28, Eriko filed a lawsuit with Tokyo Family Court to have custody of the two daughters.

Tokyo Family Court, on May 31, ordered transfer of custody of Jasmine and Laila to their mother. However, Imran had already left for Bangladesh with his two elder  daughters with him due to prevailing “Hostage Justice" system in Japan.

Foreign nationals never get custody of their children when they are divorced with their Japanese wives or husbands in what the international media brands it as “Hostage Justice" system in Japan.

According to the international media reports, a growing number of foreign nationals in Japan are speaking out against what they say is a little-known but entrenched system that allows one parent in a broken relationship to take away children and block the other from visiting them.

The issue of what domestic and overseas media call parental child “abduction” has regained international attention recently, particularly in Europe where documentaries have been made about European fathers whose children were taken by their Japanese wives.

Although divorce is increasingly common in Japan, there is no joint-custody system after divorce, helping the Japanese deprive their divorced foreign husbands or wives of the right of their children.

The divorced foreign nationals reportedly don’t get help from the law enforcers or the courts in Japan.

Though International media have been calling it a “Hostage Justice" system, it remains overlooked by the Japanese government year after year.

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