Child Welfare

As the daughter and father sat opposite each other at the table, it was unclear what was going on. The father lived in Mysore, and the daughter lived with her late mother's parents in Bangalore. She was claiming maintenance from her father. The petition alleged her mother's suicide was the fault of her father. However, in mediation, she showed no hatred, no distrust, and was extremely cooperative with her father. Perplexed by her lack of bitterness and abundance of love for her father, the mediator dug deeper into the conflict in a private meeting with the young girl. She revealed that she hadn't wanted to file the charges against her father, that her grandparents had forced her into doing it, otherwise they would kick her out of their home. The mediator asked if she was comfortable sharing this information with her father. The daughter told the truth to her father soon afterwards, who offered for her to come stay with him in Mysore.

This however, was impossible; the daughter was enrolled in a university and had a boyfriend in Bangalore that she didn't want to leave. For the time being, at least until she  finished her schooling, she needed to stay in Bangalore. Her father, knowing the bitterness of her grandparents, offered his daughter the apartment that he had inherited from his late wife in the city - and would cover any additional expenses. This, he argued, would give his daughter more freedom outside the home of her traditional grandparents, and would allow her to enjoy her time at school. This would ensure that the grandparents wouldn't be able to convince his daughter that he was a bad man, which he feared. He told his daughter that he had just lost his wife, and didn't want to lose his daughter as well.

The daughter, uninterested in pursuing any sort of charges against the father she loved, was more than happy with the settlement. She hadn't even been interested in maintenance, only her grandparents had. She wanted to see her father, and ensured him that she would come to Mysore after her time at school had finished. The father transferred the property into his daughter's name, and she moved out of her grandparents' home. She was able to seize her independence in a critical point of development, and the two maintained their loving relationship, and continued to help one another cope with the loss of the mother. This result is unique to mediation; had the case continued in litigation, the relationship between the two would have become strained, and the lovely relationship between the two may have been ruined. In mediation, the truth regarding the case was revealed, and allowed for a cooperative solution rather than a competitive one.