Christian girl ‘misses’ her Muslim carers

THE five-year-old Christian girl at the centre of a religious fostering row had a “warm relationship” with her Muslim foster carers and “misses them”, a court has been told.

The mother of the child, who herself has Muslim parents, had protested about her daughter’s placement with two devout families claiming that they had confiscated her crucifix, stopped her eating pork and made negative comments about Easter and Christmas.

Sitting in East London Family Court as the case returned for a directions hearing, Judge Khatun Sapnara said that Tower Hamlets should be allowed to put forward their “robust and interesting” defence after an investigation found the foster carers had provided “warm and appropriate care”. A full hearing will take place in December.