‘Low moral fibre’: Madras HC denies mother custody over intimate photos, late-night calls

The Madras High Court has denied a woman the custody of two minor children, noting that the woman had a “low moral fibre” for she admitted to having sent her “nude and semi-nude photographs” to another man and having had “late-night calls and video calls” with him before she started living separately from her husband.A commuter travels by cycle rickshaw in front of the Madras High Court early in the morning in Chennai on June 24, 2026. (AFP)A bench of justices PT Asha and N Mala held that the children, aged seven and nine, were of “impressionable age”; thus, their mother’s company could be detrimental to their welfare.“The minors in question are at an impressionable age if their custody is handed over to the appellant mother, considering her admitted conduct, they would grow up without understanding the difference between what is morally and ethically correct,” the high court said in a September 1 order, upholding an order of the local family court that had denied the woman custody of her two children.Also Read | Jharkhand Maoist commander, with ₹30 lakh bounty, killed in police encounter in UP's VaranasiAs per the order, the couple married on March 23, 2015 and had two children.The husband told the court that in February 2023, he discovered “nude and semi nude pictures” on her phone that she had shared with the other men and that she had made late-night video calls to several people. He dropped her at her parents’ home six days later. The children however, continued to stay with the father.The woman filed a guardian petition seeking custody of the children, which the Family Court at Udhagamandalam dismissed on August 29, 2025. She then moved the Madras high court urging the court to grant her custody of her children.The HC noted that the family court had examined the woman herself as a witness and she had admitted to the fact about her pictures.“We belong to a culture where a child cuts its teeth with the age-old adage— ‘Matha, Pitha, Guru, Deivam’— wherein the mother is held in a position higher than that of God,” the high court said.Also Read | PM Modi's mimicry at Rahul Gandhi event irks BJP: 'Mother is not subject of politics'“Therefore, in light of the above discussion, we find that the Learned Family Judge rightly rejected the petition by considering the overall well-being and welfare of the minor children and we see no reason to disagree with the same,” the high court said.