Desi American Guilty of International Parental Kidnapping

Amitkumar Kanubhai Patel, 38, of Vadodara, India, who earlier lived in Edison, New Jersey, was convicted last week in a case of parental kidnapping. This was following a five-day trial in the US in Camden federal court.

Patel was in a relationship with a woman from August 2015 through July 2017. In November 2016, they had a son, though they did not enter wedlock. While this does sound like a common story, the twist came when Patel convinced his partner that he would be taking the child to India to meet his family.

Patel also promised his partner that they would be back in two weeks, which did not happen. Prior to this, he convinced the mother to give him sole custody of the child so that he could get papers for the India trip and get a DNA test done. He also told his partner that she must testify in court that she cannot take care of the child as she is unemployed and did not have a work permit.

Accordingly, the woman testified the same in a court in New Jersey, and Patel and their son flew to India. However, once in India, Patel conveyed to the mother that he had no plans of returning and did not want to give the child either.

The helpless mother approached a lawyer, and the court ordered that the child be returned to the United States. Though her lawyer emailed Patel to return the child, Patel chose to ignore the request and instead flew to the United Kingdom with the child.

He was arrested in the United Kingdom, and the court in the UK felt it was in the best interest of the child to be returned to his paternal grandparents. Meanwhile, Patel has been charged with international parental kidnapping. Due to this, he carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a maximum fee of $250,000. The sentencing is scheduled for November 22, 2022.