Officials of the safe home, where the nine-year-old girl had been kept since the murder of her mother, gave Mamataz Begum and her family the custody of Saptarshi after they applied to the Dhaka court on November 27.

Saptarshi's father Tuhin and his sister Swapna are the main accused in the murder case of human rights activist and NGO official Papiya while Saptarshi is the only eyewitness to the incident, sources said.

In the prayer, Mamataz Begum said Saptarshi has been living with her since childhood and never wished to go to her maternal grandmother's house. If she is forced to live in the safe home or with her maternal grandmother's family, that might cause serious mental problem to the child.

After the hearing on November 30, Judge MA Halim granted the prayer and ordered the handover. The court also ordered to produce Saptarshi before the court on January 16, 2006.

Earlier on November 23, the same court following the prayer of Manzila Khatun, Saptarshi's maternal grandmother, had ordered the Barisal Kotwali Police Station to pick up Saptarshi from the house of Mamataz Begum and hand over to Manzila. Mamataz and Manzila are also sisters.

Sub-Inspector Habibur Rahman took measures for the handover in presence of both the parties, human rights activists, advocates and journalists on Thursday night.

However, the handover could not take place as the girl refused to leave her paternal grandmother.

The police brought the matter to the notice of Sadar upazila Magistrate Munim Hassan and according to his decision sent Saptarshi to the safe home Friday evening.

Meanwhile, Advocate Manabendra Batobayal, former president of Barisal District Bar Association, alleged that failure to hand over Saptarshi to her maternal grandmother and sending the child to a safe home instead are in clear violation of the court order.

The officials concerned should be deemed to have caused contempt of court as the emotion of a minor girl should not get preference over a court order, he said.

Murdered Papiya's mother and sister Mahbuba Huq Kumkum alleged that from the very beginning the police are acting biased and conspiring to destroy the evidence of the murder through the influence of political godfathers.

The life of Saptarshi, the only witness to the crime, may also be endangered or her accounts may be fabricated by the accused family, they added.

The police meanwhile refused to say anything about their findings in the three-day remand of Israt Jahan Swapna, 44, sister-in-law of Papiya and one of the two main accused in the case.

Advocate Papiya, 29, was murdered allegedly by her husband Tuhin and in-laws on November 3 and buried at the Barisal Muslim graveyard.

The police arrested Swapna on November 8 after the victim's sister lodged a case in this connection on November 7 night. Tuhin, however, has been absconding.

Marks of injury and torture were found on the dead body of Papiya at a post mortem after it was disinterred on November 8.

The next date for hearing of the Papiya murder case has been fixed on December 6, 2005.