What the death of Riya Rajkumar means for Family Law custody cases

Millions of people were startled late last night when the emergency tones went off for the Amber Alert for Riya Rajkumar, only to learn, minutes later, that she had been found, but not safe. Riya did not return from an “access visit” with her father for her birthday. Her mother contacted the police because she received messages about the father harming Riya. The police found Riya’s body in the middle of the night. They also found her father, who was arrested for murder. The whole event seems disturbingly similar to the murder of Luke Schillings in 1997 and other similar incidents that resulted in changes in Family Court in 2009.

Predictably, everyone wants to prevent this kind of event from happening again. Almost immediately, there were calls to cut off “access” to fathers, for presumptions of supervised access, and for family courts to be vigilant and act on any hint of possible abuse to cut off all ties between children and parents. Doubtlessly, Children’s Aid Societies will be under tremendous pressure to be more intrusive in the lives of separated families to make sure this does not happen again.

Having practiced Family Law for twenty years, these reactions do not seem so much as an overreaction, but a wrong reaction. Fortunately, these cases are extreme. Judges are vigilant about protecting kids. Custody/Access cases entirely revolve around what is in a child’s best interest and there are no such things as “parental rights in Ontario.” Parenting is a responsibility – a responsibility to ensure that your children group up in the best way possible and meet the fullness of their potential. It goes without saying that what happened to Riya was not in her best interest. We do not yet know how the system failed her.