Bangalore: A divorce not only wrecks havoc among the couple and separates children from their biological parents, but it also wrecks as much damage to the grandparent-grandchild relationship, denying many the right of access to the little ones, says Kumar Jahgirdar, President of the Children's Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP). Making an appeal on behalf of grandparents who are often denied access to meeting their grandchildren, he told media that in the custody battle, between husband and wife, grandparents are among the silent sufferers as they are torn away from their little ones for no fault of theirs.

"I have not seen my grandchild for three years," said a teary-eyed grandfather whose son is currently in the middle of a custody battle for the child. "I am waiting to see my three year-old grand daughter for the past one and half years," said another grandmother.

The visitation rights given to fathers to meet their children in court premises was not often enough for grandparents as they cannot tag along due to old age.

"How long are we going to live, we do not know and these long custody battles only tend to dry up our hopes of being reunited with our grandchildren," says a grandfather.

In an appeal, CRISP called for steps to ensure that the grandparents get their right to spend quality time with their grandchildren and urged the judiciary to take immediate steps and render justice to the senior citizens.