Indian couple sue son and his wife to demand a grandchild

Parents want their son to have a child within a year or pay damages of $650,000, including the cost of raising him

Sanjeev Prasad Sinha, 62, and his wife, Sadhana Prasad Sinha, say they exhausted their life savings to raise their only son. Photo: Arvind Kumar Srivastava

An Indian couple has filed a lawsuit against their only son and his wife, demanding that they produce a grandchild within a year or pay damages of 50 million rupees ($650,000).

Sanjeev Prasad Sinha, 62, a pensioner, and his wife Sadhana Prasad Sinha say they exhausted their life savings on their son, including on a $65,000 pilot training course and his wedding six years ago at a five-star hotel, with a honeymoon in Thailand.

The couple, from Haridwar in India's Uttarakhand state, said that all they asked of their son Sagar Sinha, 35, and his wife Shubhangi Sinha, 31, was to give them a grandchild, which they had failed to do.

“We killed our dreams to raise him," the couple said in their petition. "We even took a loan of 2m rupees for his education.

"But despite all our efforts, my son and his wife have caused mental torture by not giving us a grandchild. The society also questions us, causing further pain."

Their lawyer, Arvind Kumar Srivastava, said the Sinhas spent about 25m rupees on their son since birth. Now they want repayment of that expenditure, and an additional 25m rupees as damages.

“They have demanded the money because of mental cruelty,” Mr Srivastava told The National. "It is a dream of every parent to become a grandparent. They had been waiting for years to become grandparents.

“They had been trying to convince the son and his wife but they paid no heed to their demands. They are heartbroken that they will die without seeing their grandchild."

Mr Srivastava said the couple filed a plea last Saturday and the case will be taken up for hearing by the court in Dehradun city on May 15.

India is a largely conservative society, with parents traditionally having a major say in the matrimonial and professional life of their children. Refusal to comply with expectations regarding marriage and profession is seen as disrespectful to parents.