Man Kidnapped Cherry Hill Woman's Child, Fled Overseas: Feds

CHERRY HILL, NJ — A naturalized United States citizen living in India has been charged with kidnapping a child he had with a Cherry Hill woman he was seeing, and bringing the child to India and England, authorities announced.

Amitkumar Kanubhai Patel, 38, of Vadodara, India, formerly of Edison, New Jersey, was arrested in England and extradited to the United States, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig.

Patel was dating the woman from August 2015 through July 2017, and the couple had a child together in 2016, according to documents filed in the case and statements made in court. They never got married.

The woman told authorities Patel wanted to take their child to India to introduce them to his parents and obtain DNA testing, which he said was necessary for the child to claim property his family owned in India.

When the child was four months old, Patel tried to get a visa for the child, but the application was denied because Patel didn’t have documentation showing he was the child’s father, according to authorities.

Patel told the woman he needed sole custody of the child to get a visa, which required them to go to court, according to authorities.

He told the woman to tell the court she couldn’t care for her child because she was unemployed and didn’t have a work permit, and that they had a “mutual understanding” regarding custody, according to authorities.

At the May 1, 2017, hearing, the woman told the court exactly that, according to authorities. The hearing was conducted mostly in English, and she speaks only limited English, authorities said. She also wasn’t represented by an attorney.

The following day, the court granted sole custody of the child to Patel, allowing for the mother to file for joint legal custody in the future, according to authorities.

Patel then obtained visas for himself and the child. He told the woman they would be going to India for two weeks, and they left on July 26, 2017, according to authorities.

She told authorities she didn’t receive a response from Patel asking if they had arrived safely, and didn’t hear from him for several days. When he finally contacted her, he told her he was never bringing their child back, authorities said.

The woman obtained an attorney and went back to court, which ordered on Oct. 16, 2018, that Patel must immediately return to the United States with the child, according to authorities. Records show Patel never returned with the child, authorities said.

On Oct. 2, 2020, Patel and the child flew from India to the United Kingdom, where Patel was arrested, authorities said. Patel was charged in an indictment with one count of international parental kidnapping.

A federal grand jury sitting in Camden returned the indictment on July 22, 2020. On Sept. 9, 2021, Patel was extradited from England. He appeared by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen M. William in Camden federal court and was detained.

The international parental kidnapping count carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.